Flexitarianism is a
semi-vegetarian diet focusing on
vegetarian food with occasional meat consumption. A self-described flexitarian seeks to decrease meat consumption without eliminating it entirely from his or her diet. There are no guidelines for how much or how little meat one must eat before being classified a flexitarian. Flexitarian is distinguished from
polpescetarian, i.e., one who eats only chicken and fish, but does so exclusively.
In 2003, the
American Dialect Society voted flexitarian as the year's most useful word and defined it as "a vegetarian who occasionally eats meat".