cooked in a pan or on a griddle over direct heat, usually in fat or oil.
Slang.
intoxicated from drugs; high.
exhausted or incapacitated through intemperance; burned-out.
First recorded in 1350–1400, for the adjective
Things that are fried are cooked in very hot fat or oil. You can order fried rice at a Chinese restaurant, or fried clams at your favorite seafood place. Some foods are lightly stir fried, while others are submerged in boiling oil and deep fried. At a state fair, there are offerings including fried dough and fried chicken, and it's even possible to eat fried candy bars or fried ice cream. Colloquially, someone who's exhausted might say, "I'm totally fried." Fried comes from the verb fry, which has the Latin root frigere, both "to fry" and "to roast."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
New entrees were added: fried chicken, pot roast, Swiss steak.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
This was another contest that would have fried the brain of every visitor.
From BBC • May 9, 2026
This included eggs eaten on their own in forms such as scrambled, fried, or boiled, as well as eggs found in foods like baked goods and packaged products.
From Science Daily • May 7, 2026
Thornton made salmon and fried okra with spicy hummus with Hunter Fieri.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2026
When a bored-looking waiter came to them, Boaz ordered coffee and a couple of fried eggs and hash browns, and Clara ordered toast.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
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.
