cafeteria-style

adjective

caf·​e·​te·​ria-style ˌka-fə-ˈtir-ē-ə-ˌstī(-ə)l How to pronounce cafeteria-style (audio)
: cafeteria
cafeteria-style benefits

Examples of cafeteria-style in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This cafeteria-style macaroni and cheese recipe is full of comforting flavor. Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 21 Aug. 2025 Only 15% of U.S. workers have access to cafeteria-style or flexible benefits, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Joseph Coughlin, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025 The visitation room Warden Jerry Goodwin escorted us into is large, square, and filled with cafeteria-style tables. Longreads, 8 July 2025 Inside the building, images showed metal plates of uneaten food on cafeteria-style tables – with a wall now blown out from the impact. Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 12 June 2025 In Kansas City, providers are planning patient care while facing each other across narrow, cafeteria-style tables in a large, open space, according to staff members. Ellen Barry, New York Times, 4 May 2025 Set up tents, arts and crafts stations, and a cafeteria-style buffet. Maggie Griswold, StyleCaster, 1 Apr. 2025 The pair produced the idea after watching the demand grow for their hot chicken in Bishop’s Meat & 3, a cafeteria-style restaurant that Nick Bishop Sr. opened in Franklin years before. Hadley Hitson, The Tennessean, 10 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cafeteria-style was in 1906

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Cite this Entry

“Cafeteria-style.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cafeteria-style. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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