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• café
  café

  noun

  a small, unpretentious restaurant, often with exterior seating on a patio or extending onto the sidewalk.
• CAFE
  CAFE

  noun

  a U.S. federally mandated standard of average minimum miles-per-gallon fuel consumption for all the cars produced by an automobile manufacturer in a given year.

café

¹ American  

[ka-fey, kuh-, ka-fey] / kæˈfeɪ, kə-, kaˈfeɪ /

Or cafe

noun

• cafés
  plural

1. a small, unpretentious restaurant, often with exterior seating on a patio or extending onto the sidewalk.

   Synonyms:

   tearoom, lunchroom, bistro, coffeehouse

2. coffee.

   I pick up a café and a croissant on my commute in to work every morning.

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CAFE ² American  

[ka-fey, kuh-] / kæˈfeɪ, kə- /

noun

1. a U.S. federally mandated standard of average minimum miles-per-gallon fuel consumption for all the cars produced by an automobile manufacturer in a given year.

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café British  

/ ˈkæfeɪ, ˈkæfɪ /

noun

1. a small or inexpensive restaurant or coffee bar, serving light meals and refreshments

2. a corner shop or grocer

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Spelling

See resume ².

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cafés
  plural

Etymology

Origin of café¹

First recorded in 1780–90; from French: literally, “coffee”; see origin at coffee

Origin of CAFE²

C(orporate) A(verage) F(uel) E(conomy)

Compare meaning

How does cafe compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• CAFE vs. coffee shop
• bistro vs. CAFE

Explanation

A cafe is a coffee shop, or a small restaurant where coffee is served. Your neighborhood cafe might be a good place to get a piece of pie and a cup of coffee. You could stop by a cafe for lunch, or just grab a coffee and a muffin to go. You can also call a cafe a "coffeehouse" or "coffee shop," and while the word is similar to cafeteria — and the two share a root word — a cafeteria tends to be a buffet-style restaurant or dining hall. Cafe comes from the French café, which means both "coffee" and "coffeehouse."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

café CAFE cafés

In another, it occupied an outdoor café table next to an exceptionally good pair of cat-eye sunglasses.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026

Shane McGann, a director of Juko, said security at the café was being reviewed after what happened.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

He confesses to catching one game—a victory for Spain—in a ramshackle café in a Galician village.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026

Literally there were people sitting outside the café that were like, “Go home.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

He appeared to be headed straight for the front of the café.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

That would be the main focus of the school’s proposed Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, or CAFE.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2022

"CAFE is not a public health regulation," said Graham, who is a member of EPA's Science Advisory Board.

From Science Magazine ● Aug. 1, 2018

The corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, program is shared between two agencies: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and EPA, which is the latecomer.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 1, 2018

They hope to avoid a court battle with California and other states over the standard, known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE.

From Washington Times ● May 11, 2018

You've only to step round the corner of Smith's Hotel on the side street and read the sign: LADIES' AND GENT'S CAFE, just as large and as imposing as ever.

From Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock

While pubs, clubs and live music venues are set to benefit from the business rates relief, restaurants, cafés, hotels and cinemas have not been included in the government's announcement.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

The Time to Talk study took into account people buying takeaways and ready meals, as well as going on trips to cafés and restaurants.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026

“The hype started in Japan. In Japan there are even cafés where you have contact with capybaras. And the internet helped, and the public is always curious. They want to know about the species.”

From Slate ● May 27, 2026

“Walking through the historic streets and discovering small cafés and boutiques gives you a true sense of the city,” she says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

He sits in parks and cafés, observing people who pay him little notice as he blends into crowds of young men in interchangeable suits and bowler hats.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern