Definition

1. Adjective:

   • In the current fashion or style: Describes something that is fashionable, trendy, or stylish at a given time.

2. Adverb:

   • With ice cream on top or on the side: Used to describe a dessert, typically pie or cake, that is served with a scoop of ice cream.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • Her dress was very a la mode for the season. (Her dress was very fashionable for the season.)
  • The restaurant's decor is completely a la mode. (The restaurant's decor is completely in style.)

• Adverb (in relation to food):

  • Would you like your apple pie a la mode? (Would you like your apple pie with ice cream?)
  • The menu lists the brownie sundae a la mode. (The menu lists the brownie sundae served with ice cream.)

Advanced Usage

• The adjectival use is often found in more formal or descriptive writing about fashion and trends.
• The adverbial use is almost exclusively culinary and is a fixed phrase on menus in English-speaking countries.

Variants and Related Words

• A la mode is a loan phrase from French ("à la mode"), meaning "in the fashion." In English, it retains the French spelling but is often written without accents.
• Mode (n): A way or manner in which something occurs or is experienced. Also, a prevailing fashion or style.
• Fashionable (adj): Similar in meaning to the adjectival use of "a la mode."

Synonyms

• Adjective: Fashionable, stylish, trendy, in vogue, chic.
• Adverb: With ice cream, topped with ice cream.

Related Phrases

• A la carte: A menu term meaning each dish is priced separately (from French).
• A la king: A dish, especially chicken, served in a cream sauce with pimentos and mushrooms.

Notes on Usage

• When used as an adjective, "a la mode" typically follows a linking verb like "be" or "seem."
• When used as an adverb in the culinary sense, it always follows the name of the dessert it describes (e.g., "pie a la mode").
• The phrase is not commonly used to form phrasal verbs or idioms beyond the two primary meanings listed.

Adjective

1. in the current fashion or style

Adverb

1. with ice cream on top or on the side
   • we served the apple pie a la mode