fried
adjective
cooked in a pan or on a griddle over direct heat, usually in fat or oil.
fried
1 American
[frahyd]
/ fraɪd /
adjective
-
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.
verb
Fried
2
American
[freed, fr eet]
/ frid, frit /
noun
fried
British
/ fraɪd /
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fried
First recorded in 1350–1400, for the adjective
Explanation
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."
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:
I’ll serve them over pasta and vegetables, chop them into Caesar wraps or turn them into absolutely gorgeous fried chicken sandwiches.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
They have an appetizer-style, Southern, saucy-inspired menu where they have things breaded and fried.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
In February, after another stepson, Eduardo Bolsonaro accused her of not doing enough to support Flavio's campaign, she shared a picture of fried bananas she was making for her husband.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
To celebrate, the store threw her a party, which included a petting zoo, ice-cream truck and, yes, fried Oreos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
One time she couldn’t quite make herself eat what looked like a fried egg afloat in pig fat and gristle, so Farmer slurped it down for her.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Fried fast foods were also linked to a larger decline in hippocampal volume.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
New York Yankees: The return of staff ace Fried is huge for a team that has clinched a wild-card berth and remains a long step behind the Rays for a division title and first-round bye.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
“The rhetoric was ferocious, but the punch less so,” said Daniel Fried, a former U.S. diplomat now at the Atlantic Council.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Fried foods featured in my quiz included the fried pork tenderloin sandwich, which was popularized in Indiana.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The block always smells like fried chicken thanks to Frenchy’s Fried ’n’ Such, which is the diner to end all diners.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
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