family style

adverb or adjective

: with the food placed on the table in serving dishes from which those eating may help themselves

Examples of family style in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The weekend kicked off with a rehearsal dinner filled with speeches and classic Bahamian dishes served family style. — Shelby Wax, Vogue, 21 Sep. 2026

Inside, celebrities, artists, and politicians mix with neighborhood regulars around tables laden with red-sauce classics served family style. — Taylor Stoddard, Robb Report, 5 Sep. 2026

Meals are taken family style, and the refinement of the cooking will ruin ordinary Indian restaurant fare for you. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Aug. 2026

Some dishes arrive family style, encouraging people to share food across the table. — Noel Burgess, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1857, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for family style

• epicondyle
• geotextile
• nucleophile
• aisle
• bile
• chyle
• file
• guile
• heil
• isle
• kyle
• mile