Mode noun 1. a manner of acting or doing; method; way: modern modes of transportation. 2. a particular type or form of something: Heat is a mode of motion. 3. a designated condition or status, as for performing a task or responding to a problem: a machine in the automatic mode. 4. Philosophy. a. appearance, form, or disposition taken by a thing, or by one of its essential properties or attributes. b. (in the philosophy of Spinoza) one of the nonessential qualifications of God, contingent upon other modes. Compare attribute. 5. Logic. a. modality (def. 3). 6. Music. any of various arrangements of the diatonic tones of an octave, differing from one another in the order of the whole steps and half steps; scale. Synonyms: appearance, approach, attitude, chic, custom, fad, fashion, flair, form, look, manner, method, order, rage, state, style, system, technique, trend, variety, vogue, way Definition: Manner of being or form of existence, The current custom, A distinctive way of expressing oneself, The approach used to do something..