fast food
noun
food, as hamburgers, pizza, or fried chicken, that is prepared in quantity by a standardized method and can be dispensed quickly at inexpensive restaurants for eating there or elsewhere.
fast food
1 Americannoun
fast-food
2
American
[fast-food, fahst-]
/ ˈfæstˈfud, ˈfɑst- /
adjective
fast food
British
noun
adjective
Usage
What does fast food mean? Fast food is food quickly prepared and served, often at chain restaurants and typically associated with less expensive and less nutritious items like hamburgers, french fries, and soft drinks.
Etymology
Origin of fast food1
An Americanism dating back to 1965–70
Origin of fast-food2
An Americanism dating back to 1965–70
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.
See Examples For:
Fast-casual chains such as Chipotle, Sweetgreen and Cava, a cut above fast food and more likely to serve young, white-collar diners, aren’t.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Students who reported less healthy behaviors, including frequent fast food consumption and insufficient sleep, tended to show greater psychological rigidity, meaning they had more difficulty adjusting their thoughts and behaviors when circumstances changed.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
Halkias sees fast food and professional sports as the two arenas most likely to turn opinion against private equity and investment firms more generally.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
Despite outperforming other fast food chains and posting impressive same-store sales, the Mexican-inspired chain Taco Bell has taken a hit after being linked to Cyclospora.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
There are candy wrappers, receipts, fast food bags, and papers all over.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
The girl was in front of a fast-food outlet near the city centre when the incident took place, police said.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Outside of the fast-food industry, healthcare providers are putting AI to work.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
A lawyer for the fast-food chain wrote in a Sept. 24 email to Silva that he had passed along the request for retroactive approval, but the company declined it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
New options are intended to help the company increase its share in the global beverage and chicken markets by 1.5 percentage points by 2030, while maintaining its position as the biggest fast-food burger seller.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Then this thought: Unless things change, my fast-food days are over.
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
