What does retried mean?
Retried is the past tense and past participle of retry, meaning to attempt an action again after it has failed, been interrupted, or produced an unsuccessful result. It is especially common in technical and operational contexts, such as a computer program retrying a request, a delivery service retrying a route, or a person trying an action again after a first failure. The word suggests persistence and a second or subsequent effort rather than simply repeating something for a different purpose. In casual conversation, “tried again” may sound more natural, while “retried” is often preferred when describing an automated process or a deliberate response to a specific failure.
verbTo make another attempt to do something after an initial attempt has failed or been interrupted.
- To make another attempt at an action or process after it has failed, been interrupted, or received an unsuccessful response.
"The team retried the request when the server did not respond."
"She retried the upload after changing her connection."
"The system retried the operation automatically when the network briefly failed."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does retried come from?
Retried derives from retry, which was formed in the 19th century from the prefix re-, meaning again, and try, meaning attempt. The verb follows the ordinary English pattern of forming the past tense with -ed. Its meaning developed from making another attempt to the modern sense of repeating an action after an unsuccessful result.
Related word forms
How retried is actually used
Common in technical, operational, and everyday contexts. It often refers specifically to repeating an action that failed, while it can also mean making another attempt more generally.
Easily confused with retried
No distinction applies because this is the headword itself.