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Southern-fried

American  
[suhth-ern-frahyd] / ˈsʌð ərnˈfraɪd /

adjective

  1. Cooking. coated with flour, egg, and breadcrumbs and fried in deep fat.

    Southern-fried chicken.

  2. (often lowercase) characteristic of or originating in the South.

    a vocabulary full of southern-fried expressions.


Southern-fried British  
/ ˈsʌðənˌfraɪd /

adjective

  1. (of meats, esp chicken) dipped in a mixture of flour and breadcrumbs and deep-fried

  2. Also: country-fried.  (of music) combined with or influenced by elements of country-and-western music

  3. Also: country-friedderogatory characteristic of or pertaining to the Southeastern US, esp in culture, politics, or religion Compare chicken-fried

"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

Etymology

Origin of Southern-fried

First recorded in 1925–30

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.

Goggins’ gritty and/or Southern-fried shows are not the kind that inspire Emmy voters’ rapture.

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2025

Magaro spoke with Salon about this penchant for playing humble characters and making the Southern-fried caper comedy, “LaRoy, Texas.”

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2024

It’s Southern-fried “The Blue Lagoon” meets “Murder, She Wrote” — and topped off with a sprinkling of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

From Washington Post • Jul. 13, 2022

Beatty later told People magazine he was grateful simply for a chance to play a tough-minded businessman after a run of Southern-fried “schnooks.”

From Seattle Times • Jun. 13, 2021

There are satisfying arena-ready rockers like “Greatest Show on Earth,” ”American Rock ‘n Roll” and “Stand the Pain” along with proud Southern-fried tunes like “Tennessee Mountain Top” and the playful, bluesy “Raining Whiskey.”

From Washington Times • Nov. 6, 2017