1
: cooked in hot oil or butter : cooked by frying
fried eggs
fried chicken
fried dough
2
: damaged or destroyed by an electrical surge or malfunction
The man behind the counter hooked up my computer to another machine and then gave me the bad news. "I'm afraid your hard drive is fried," the technician said.—
Tom McNichol
Tom McNichol3
US, informal
a
: intoxicated, high
… too fried on crystal meth to be gambling on a game of pool, but doing it nonetheless.—Joseph Wambaugh
Joseph Wambaugh… what about that time you got fried at the frat house after the big game against State and the judge fined you $50 and costs for dropping quarts of beer in paper bags out the second-floor window?—Russell Baker
Russell Baker
b
: mentally exhausted
At dinner after the book signing, he's fried, barely able to converse.—Rick Martin
Rick MartinAfter spending about 14 hours on ESPN Radio, SportsCenter and espn.com, Gammons was completely fried.—Rich Eisen
Rich EisenSynonyms of fried
Examples of fried in a Sentence
Sorry, I'm just fried today.
grew up in a family in which Dad got fried on every weekend and holiday
Recent Examples on the Web
Inspired by the classic French combo of radishes and butter, this Japanese riff opts for daikon, gently pan-fried until hoku-hoku, an onomatopoetic term for foods that are soft, warm, and slightly dry or fluffy.
—Chihiro Tomioka, Saveur, 5 Feb. 2026
Whether they’re served plain, with ham, or with fried chicken, there has to be a basket of biscuits on the table!
—Josh Miller, Southern Living, 1 Feb. 2026
Nopales Milanesa Torta – Crispy pan-fried cactus leaf, soyrizo nduja and Serrano citrus slaw.
—Charlie Vargas, Daily News, 31 Jan. 2026
Kick things off with the calamari fritti, equal parts crispy and airy, the kind of starter that will make even your anti-fried-food friend cave.
—Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fried
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Chihiro Tomioka, Saveur, 5 Feb. 2026
Whether they’re served plain, with ham, or with fried chicken, there has to be a basket of biscuits on the table!
—Josh Miller, Southern Living, 1 Feb. 2026
Nopales Milanesa Torta – Crispy pan-fried cactus leaf, soyrizo nduja and Serrano citrus slaw.
—Charlie Vargas, Daily News, 31 Jan. 2026
Kick things off with the calamari fritti, equal parts crispy and airy, the kind of starter that will make even your anti-fried-food friend cave.
—Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fried
Cite this Entry
“Fried.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fried. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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