Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. very drunk; thus fried to the gills/tonsils, extremely drunk.

1926		Judge (NY) 91 July-Dec. 31: Fried - Intoxicated.
1929		D. Parker ‘The Last Tea’ in Penguin Dorothy Parker (1982) 183: I must have been fried pretty.
1934		H. Miller Tropic of Cancer (1963) 114: Even if he is fried to the hat some fine preservative instinct always warns Marlowe when it is time to act.
1943		R.L. Bellem ‘Monster’s Malice’ Dan Turner – Hollywood Detective May 🌐 I’m going to get fried to the hat.
1949		Wodehouse Mating Season 65: [The] underlying suggestion that I was fried to the tonsils.
1952		(con. 1948) G. Mandel Flee the Angry Strangers 275: Yet, guilty as it makes me, I manage to stay fried.
1964		in Current Sl. (1967) I:4.
1986		J. Ellroy Silent Terror 231: When I got back to the bar, Jim was fried.
1990		J. Wambaugh Golden Orange (1991) 64: By the time six o’clock arrived, Winnie was half fried.
2000		(con. 1940s–60s) Décharné Straight from the Fridge Dad.
2010		James ‘The Shakes’ 🎵 Got the shakes / Too much gravy / I’m so fried/ [...] / I’ll go sober.
2021		G. McDonough on Twitter 12 Jan. 🌐 Poor Lulu got fried on Chianti / And talked about esprit de corps.

2. (US) dead.

1985

(con. 1969–70) D. Bodey F.N.G. (1988) 88: I think Charlie is either fried over there or has made his didi.

3. (drugs) extremely intoxicated by a drug, usu. cannabis.

1961		J.A. Williams Night Song (1962) 135: Lay here on your ass and get your brains fried.
1975		cited in Spears Sl. and Jargon of Drugs and Drink (1986).
1985		Totally True Diaries of an Eighties Roller Queen 🌐 18 June Today Kim, Jackie, Tammy and I bought a gram of hash at the billiards and got fried. It was fun.
1995		A. Heckerling Clueless [film script] It is one thing to spark up a dubie and get laced at parties, but it is quite another to be fried all day.
2008		D.R. Pollock ‘Pills’ in Knockemstiff 58: By the end of the fifth day, we were fried. Now the speed was like water running through our veins, and we couldn’t get off anymore.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 346: I was fried. I worked my cubicle phone for three hours straight.

4. (US campus, also fried out) angry.

1967–8

Baker et al. CUSS.

5. (US) very tired, worn out, hungover.

[1850		Man of Pleasure’s Illus. Pocket-book n.p.: [H]er flock [i.e. of whores] is in prime condition, and always ready for sticking. When any of them are fried they are turned out to grass, and sent to the hammer].
1978		D. DeLillo Running Dog (1992) 72: My fried hair. Disarmed you.
1980		Eble Campus Sl. Fall 3: fried – absentminded, incoherent, irrational, mentally fatigued because of over celebration.
1986		J. Ellroy Silent Terror 198: [D]ingy, zorched, whacked-out and fried from 108 hours of continuous consciousness.
1991		D. Gaines Teenage Wasteland 68: Joe’s been up for more than a day already. He’s fried.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 152: He was fried to exhaustion.
2007		R. Milward Apples (2023) 9: I was shattered [...] My head was fried.
2008		R. Price Lush Life 421: People tend to get fried pretty quick if you load up the day on them .
2011		J.J. DeCeglie Drawing Dead [ebook] I was a fucking mess. Fried as the eggs in my breakfast.
2015		J. Stahl OG Dad 75: I’m fried. It’s five in the morning.
2024		D. Rucker Life’s Too Short 6: We’ve been touring nonstop, on the road constantly, finally coming to the last leg of back-to-back tour stops, and I’m fried. I need a break.

6. (US campus) defunct.

1981		Eble Campus Sl. Fall 3: fried – defunct, inoperable, used up: Long time use of drugs had left him with a fried brain.
1983		R. Price Breaks 299: Unless his fucking brain is fried, in which case fuck ’im, right?

7. (US campus) sunburned.

1989		P. Munro Sl. U.
1997		Eble Campus Sl. Apr.