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Showing results for fritter. Search instead for fritterers.
Synonyms

fritter

1 American  
[frit-er] / ˈfrɪt ər /

verb (used with object)

  1. to squander or disperse piecemeal; waste little by little (usually followed byaway ).

    to fritter away one's money; to fritter away an afternoon.
    Synonyms:
    dissipate

  2. to break or tear into small pieces or shreds.

verb (used without object)

  1. to dwindle, shrink, degenerate, etc. (often followed byaway ).

    to watch one's fortune fritter away.

  2. to separate or break into fragments.

    a plastic material having a tendency to fritter.

noun

  1. a small piece, fragment, or shred.

fritter 2 American  
[frit-er] / ˈfrɪt ər /

noun

  1. a small cake of batter, sometimes containing corn, fruit, clams, or some other ingredient, fried in deep fat or sautéed.

fritter 1 British  
/ ˈfrɪtə /

verb

  1. (usually foll by away) to waste or squander

    to fritter away time

  2. to break or tear into small pieces; shred

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a small piece; shred

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
fritter 2 British  
/ ˈfrɪtə /

noun

  1. a piece of food, such as apple or clam, that is dipped in batter and fried in deep fat

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • fritterer noun
  • unfrittered adjective

Etymology

Origin of fritter1

1720–30; earlier fitter, derivative of fit ( Old English fitt ) a part

Origin of fritter2

1350–1400; Middle English friture, frytour < Old French friture < Late Latin frīctūra a frying, equivalent to Latin frict ( us ), past participle of frīgere to fry 1 + -ūra -ure

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.

Last time I went, we tried the Thai corn fritter which was really good and crispy.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2026

Restaurant-delivery apps have become “an easy, and lazy, way to fritter your money away instead of investing,” Valega said.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 6, 2026

I clear my schedule and hole up in the library, only to fritter away hours doing everything but writing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

He called the party a “mess” and wondered how its leaders might fritter away the momentum.

From Salon • Nov. 6, 2025

“You don’t mess around like that. You just don’t fritter away all your luck.”

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

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.