What does frittered mean?
Frittered is the past tense and past participle of the verb "fritter," meaning to waste something valuable — most often money or time — in small, piecemeal amounts until it is entirely gone. Unlike outright squandering, which suggests dramatic loss, being frittered away implies erosion: a fortune lost a few pounds at a time, hours dissolved into idle distractions. The word nearly always appears with the adverb "away," as in "he frittered away his savings," and it carries an unmistakably disapproving tone, suggesting carelessness or lack of discipline rather than misfortune. It derives from the same root as the fried food called a fritter — both ultimately tracing to Latin "fractus," broken — because the original sense involved breaking things into fragments. A useful word whenever you want to convey gradual, almost unnoticed dissipation of resources, it remains common in British and American writing about finance, politics, and personal habits alike.
verbPast tense and past participle of "fritter": to have wasted time, money, or resources on trivial things in small, gradual amounts until little or nothing remains.
- To waste money, time, or resources on trifling things in small increments until they are gone
- (Archaic/rare) To break something into small fragments or shreds
"He frittered away his inheritance on gambling and expensive cars."
"She frittered away her savings on impulse purchases she barely remembered making."
"The committee frittered months on procedural disputes while the deadline slipped past."
Shakespeare put it best: "I can get no remedy against this consumption of the purse" — borrowing only lends gold and lents it out again, and fortunes have been frittered away coin by coin since at least the 1600s.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of frittered
The verb "fritter" entered English in the seventeenth century, derived from the noun "fritter" (a fried morsel), which came through Old French "friture" from Latin "fractura," meaning a fragment or break — hence the early sense of breaking something into pieces. Over time the dominant meaning shifted to that of wasting something bit by bit, as if crumbled away in fragments. Its Latin root "frangere" (to break) also underlies words like "fraction," "fragile," and "fragment."
Related word forms
How frittered is actually used
Almost always used with the particle "away" in modern English, and almost always carries a negative, mildly reproachful connotation — implying not just spending but careless, incremental squandering. Slightly formal or literary in register.
Easily confused with frittered
"Fritter" is also a noun for a piece of food fried in batter; the verb "frittered" has an entirely separate meaning of wasting something bit by bit, though both trace back through related Romance roots.
"Littered" means scattered with rubbish or debris, while "frittered" specifically refers to wasting money, time, or opportunities gradually.