What does ricer mean?
Ricer most commonly denotes a perforated kitchen utensil used to press cooked rice, potatoes, or similar soft foods into a fine, smooth consistency. Its plunger forces the food through holes in the bottom, making it especially useful for purées and uniformly smooth mashed potatoes. In contemporary American slang, however, ricer is also a derogatory term for a person considered weak, meek, or overly compliant. That sense is associated with stereotypes about Asian people and is widely regarded as racist or ethnocentric. The utensil sense is therefore substantially more appropriate in neutral contexts. Although usually associated with rice, the tool can process other cooked vegetables, and it is often called a potato ricer when used for potatoes. The word is memorable both for its practical kitchen function and for the sharp contrast between an ordinary utensil and an insulting historical and cultural stereotype.
nounA ricer is a kitchen utensil with perforated holes and a press or plunger used to force soft foods, especially cooked rice or potatoes, through it. In derogatory slang, it can also mean a person regarded as weak, meek, or overly accommodating, often with reference to Asian stereotypes.
- 1. A perforated kitchen utensil used to press cooked rice, potatoes, or other soft foods through a container.
- 2. Derogatory slang for a person regarded as weak, meek, or overly accommodating, often invoking Asian stereotypes.
"She used a ricer to turn the cooked potatoes into a smooth purée."
"The recipe recommended a ricer for producing especially smooth mashed potatoes."
"In the comments, he was called a ricer for refusing to stand up for his friend."
The standard plural is used for the utensils. The slang sense can be pluralized grammatically, but it is normally avoided because it is derogatory.
"The cook washed the ricers after preparing the mashed potatoes."
A ricer can make mashed potatoes beautifully—or, as a slur, reduce a person to a stereotype.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does ricer come from?
The ordinary kitchen-tool sense is an agent noun formed from rice and the suffix -er. Rice ultimately comes through Old French ris from the Latin oryza; Italian risotto likewise derives from riso, which has the same Latin source. The derogatory slang sense is a much later development whose precise earliest origin is difficult to establish, and it is now inseparable from the racialized associations of its source term.
Related word forms
How ricer is actually used
The kitchen-utensil sense is standard and neutral. The personal sense is offensive and should generally be avoided, especially because it can reinforce racist or ethnocentric stereotypes.
Easily confused with ricer
A riser is a person or object that rises, whereas a ricer is primarily a perforated kitchen press or, in derogatory slang, a person stereotyped as weak or meek.
Rice is the grain from which a ricer takes its name, while a ricer is the utensil used to press or purée soft foods.