sundae
Americannoun
-
sundaes
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sundae
1890–95, perhaps special use of Sunday (with distinctive spelling)
Explanation
A sundae is a delicious ice cream concoction that might include hot fudge or caramel sauce, nuts, and whipped cream. You can order a sundae any day of the week. When you put ice cream in a dish, drip a sweet topping over it (like strawberry sauce or chocolate syrup), and add a dollop of whipped cream and a cherry, you've got a sundae. There are several competing stories about the origin of the sundae (and its name). One is that Illinois' outlawing of soda drinking on Sundays led to the dessert's invention. Several towns claim to be the sundae's birthplace, including New York City; Plainfield, Illinois; and New Orleans.
Vocabulary lists containing sundae
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:
There was the helmet with a safe amount of padding and the padding-deprived helmet that may have been obtained with a vanilla sundae at Dairy Queen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
I always love to have a decaf espresso with dessert, which is either a brownie sundae or banana pudding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
Polaris veterans probably don’t get excited about it, but this newbie enjoyed the ice-cream sundae cart wheeled to each seat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
Barely recognizable from “Welcome to Flatch” is Holmes as Carmen’s roommate Hailee, a rococo ice cream sundae of a person, talking a mile a minute, sweet and dim; as on “Flatch,” she is quite wonderful.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2025
He was a small man, the kind of little old man who looked as if the passing of the years had shrunk him, eating an enormous, many-scooped ice-cream sundae, drinking a supersized mug of coffee.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
The chain was founded in Wichita, Kan., in 2002 and is known for its burgers, fries, cheese curds and sundaes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Once her situation started to look dire, I made peace with spending her money, whether that meant managing caregivers or splurging on hot fudge sundaes from Dairy Queen for dinner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
The change came months after Mr. McDonald and a group of state party officials were invited to Mar-a-Lago, where they were treated to an hourslong meal that concluded with ice cream sundaes.
From New York Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
Mary-Ellen McDonald, 74, makes ice cream sundaes with homemade fudge sauce by the half-gallon.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 29, 2023
The soda clerk in his white jacket took our order—a cherry phosphate for James and fudge-soaked sundaes for each of us.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.
