fried

adjective

ˈfrīd 

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

3

US, informal

a

: intoxicated, high

… too fried on crystal meth to be gambling on a game of pool, but doing it nonetheless.

—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

b

: mentally exhausted

At dinner after the book signing, he's fried, barely able to converse.

—Rick Martin

After spending about 14 hours on ESPN Radio, SportsCenter and espn.com, Gammons was completely fried.

—Rich Eisen

Synonyms

• besotted
• blasted [slang]
• blind
• blitzed [slang]
• blotto [slang]
• bombed
• boozy
• canned [slang]
• cockeyed
• crocked
• drunk
• drunken
• gassed
• hammered [slang]
• high
• impaired
• inebriate
• inebriated
• intoxicated
• juiced [slang]
• lit
• lit up
• loaded [slang]
• looped
• oiled [slang]
• pickled
• pie-eyed
• plastered
• potted [slang]
• ripped [slang]
• sloshed [slang]
• smashed [slang]
• sottish
• soused
• sozzled
• squiffed
• squiffy
• stewed
• stiff
• stinking [slang]
• stoned
• tanked [slang]
• tiddly [chiefly British]
• tight
• tipsy
• wasted [slang]
• wet
• wiped out [slang]

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

The quick-service restaurant chain in North Carolina serves fried chicken and Eastern North Carolina barbecue, with 41 locations statewide. —Sunny Hubler, Charlotte Observer, 10 Mar. 2025

Uchiko has its own executive pastry chef, Ariana Quant, who will serve up the popular milk and cereal dish, made up of fried milk, chocolate mousse and toasted milk ice cream. —Connie Ogle, Miami Herald, 7 Mar. 2025

Start off with sharable plates like the Hamachi with green apple, coconut milk, and smoked aji panca or the fluffy Bao Buns filled with fried chicken, aji verde, and gochujang bbq. —Chelsea Davis, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025

Popeyes Best known for its fried chicken and biscuits, Popeyes is bringing back two seafood options for Lent. —Tanasia Kenney, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing fried

• chicken-fried steak
• fried rice

Rhymes for fried

• bide
• bride
• chide
• cried
• died
• dried
• dyed
• eid
• eide
• eyed
• flied
• glide