à la mode
Americanadjective
-
in or according to the fashion.
-
Cooking.
-
(of pie or other dessert) served with a portion of ice cream, often as a topping.
apple pie à la mode.
-
(of beef ) larded and braised or stewed with vegetables, herbs, etc., and served with a rich brown gravy.
-
adjective
-
fashionable in style, design, etc
-
(of meats) braised with vegetables in wine
-
(of desserts) served with ice cream
Etymology
Origin of à la mode
First recorded in 1640–50; French, literally, “in the current fashion”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The backdrop is a cubist cityscape; their hair is cropped in the manner of Parisian garçons; and their red lips and shaded eyes are thoroughly à la mode.
From The Guardian • Oct. 5, 2018
It has remained there, waxing and waning à la mode.
From Washington Times • Aug. 11, 2017
![]()
Don’t miss: The bleu cheese haystack -- a pile of shoestring fries covered in blue cheese and buffalo wing sauce -- and the apple-filled glazed doughnut served à la mode.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2015
Your choice of a straw trilby is à la mode, judging by the early evidence presented on the streets this season.
From Slate • Jun. 5, 2013
Here was Johnson's Hotel, celebrated for upwards of seventy years for its à la mode beef.
From Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromartie, Knight by Willcock, John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.