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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.

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 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

After Ms. Luna’s father benefited from the Reagan administration’s amnesty for millions of undocumented immigrants, the family focused on living as “real apple-pie Americans,” she said.

From New York Times • Oct. 14, 2018

We had a good meal, a roast chicken, new green beans, mashed potatoes, a salad, and some apple-pie and cheese.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

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.