What does fast food mean? Fast food is food quickly prepared and served, often at chain restaurants and typically associated with less expensive and less nutritious items like hamburgers, french fries, and soft drinks.
An Americanism dating back to 1965–70
An Americanism dating back to 1965–70
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
João Valentim and his friends, a group made up of Portuguese graduate students traveling from Madrid, have also been trying "mostly fast food, chain restaurants that we don't have in our own country."
From BBC • Jun. 19, 2026
After eating a lot of fast food, some of it on roller coasters, YouTuber Allen Ferrell has been banned by Six Flags from all of its amusement parks nationwide.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
The Italian journalist and writer from Piedmont founded Slow Food in 1986, in protest against the opening of the first fast food restaurants in the country.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
The influence of the Queen City is ubiquitous: The fast food is Skyline Chili, not Kentucky Fried Chicken, and the Reds and Bengals are as important as the Wildcats.
From Slate • May 19, 2026
He has a bag of fast food clutched in one fist as he comes through the front door; the other grips his keys, which he yanks free from the doorknob.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
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.
