fritz

¹

[ frits ]

Fritz

²

[ frits ]

noun

1. Older Slang: Sometimes Offensive. a German, especially a German soldier.
2. a male given name.

Sensitive Note

Fritz was a nickname used by Allied soldiers for a German soldier during World War I and II.

Word History and Origins

Origin of fritz¹

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05; of obscure origin

Origin of fritz²

1910–15; < German; common nickname for Friedrich

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. on the fritz, Informal. not in working order:

   Our TV went on the fritz last night.

More idioms and phrases containing fritz

see on the blink (fritz) .

Example Sentences

Mondale — who went by the nickname “Fritz” — was a pillar of Minnesota Democratic politics for a generation, and came to national prominence in 1976 when then-Georgia Governor Carter selected Mondale as his running mate.

From Time

Fritz’s PhD allows him to do the math himself, he assures you, but he passes along a formula that he derived from Excel.

From Washington Post

The third is that, even without a PhD, you see a problem with Fritz’s analysis.

From Washington Post

Michael immediately saw how to incorporate it into the K-theory that he and Fritz had developed, and he quickly had the statement of the general index theorem in hand.

From Quanta Magazine

Though that can generate huge waves offshore, it doesn’t do too much in terms of raising sea level far away from the coast, says Fritz.

From Fortune

Hitchcock also met Fritz Lang, who was later to work in Hollywood.

From The Daily Beast

And then she tasted the Fritz Briem Berliner Weisse 1809, and everything changed.

From The Daily Beast

I ordered the same beer she had, and for the next two hours, we drank this refreshing brew: Fritz Briem Berliner Weisse “1809.”

From The Daily Beast

In a comic moment, one man suffered a brain fritz and said he had read something about the defendant being “related to Obama.”

From The Daily Beast

McMahon, who succeeds Fritz Winans, was the former CEO of St. John.

From The Daily Beast

Balsamo waited until Fritz returned, when he went back to the private inner house, fastening all the doors.

From Project Gutenberg

Fritz is lodged there; has a magnificent bed: poor young fellow, he alone now makes the business of any meaning to us.

From Project Gutenberg

We would see Fritz disappear round a traverse and we simply could not stand still and let him go, or let the other fellow get him.

From Project Gutenberg

He arrests, punishes and banishes, where there is trace of cooperation or connection with Deserter Fritz and his schemes.

From Project Gutenberg

In certain sordid times, even a "Failure of a Fritz" is better than some Successes that are going.

From Project Gutenberg