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apple-pie

American  
[ap-uhl-pahy] / ˈæp əlˌpaɪ /

adjective

  1. pertaining to or embodying values perceived as traditionally American, or, more broadly, as unassailable.

    apple-pie virtues of individualism and hard work;

    an apple-pie issue that no politician could vote against.


Etymology

Origin of apple-pie

First recorded in 1960–70

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.

See Examples For:

It could have raised funds it needed elsewhere, through traditional, home-spun, apple-pie American institutions like private equity behemoths.

From Slate Jul. 12, 2023

He’s a pleasingly inoffensive, nonthreateningly masculine, apple-pie type, but like so many all-American commodities, there’s more lurking in that designation.

From New York Times Jul. 27, 2021

He wasn’t into the whole all-American, apple-pie look.

From Fox News Jan. 6, 2020

Patriotism and apple-pie nostalgia, other Super Bowl ad staples, were also scant.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 4, 2019

Representing the marriage of old-world traditions with the apple-pie aspirations of the new country, she took crown after crown.

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

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