What does steamed mean?
Steamed is most often used as an adjective for food that has been cooked with steam rather than baked, fried, or roasted. Steamed vegetables, fish, rice, and buns are common examples, and the method is associated with gentle cooking and a soft or moist result. In informal American English, steamed can also describe a person who is angry or irritated, as in the phrase “I'm steamed.” The word can additionally function as the past tense and past participle of steam: a chef steamed the vegetables, while the kettle steamed heavily. Its use as a verb therefore covers both actively heating something with steam and producing or releasing vapor. Although the culinary meaning is the dominant everyday sense, the idiomatic emotional meaning adds a vivid, colloquial layer to the word.
Cooked or heated with steam; in informal American English, angry or irritated.
"We had steamed carrots and steamed potatoes for dinner."
The meaning “angry” is informal and especially associated with American English.
The past tense and past participle of steam: to heat or cook with steam, or to give off steam.
"The chef steamed the dumplings for eight minutes."
When used as a participle before a noun, such as “steamed rice,” it functions as an adjective.
Steamed is both a kitchen technique and a short, distinctly American way to say that someone is fired up.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does steamed come from?
The word steam comes from Old English stēam, originally referring to vapor or moisture, and “steamed” was formed through the regular English addition of the -ed inflection. The culinary verb and adjective uses developed within the long-established English vocabulary for cooking and heating with vapor. Related English forms include steamer, steaming, and steamy, which all share the same native English root.
Related word forms
How steamed is actually used
The culinary sense is standard in British and American English. The sense meaning angry or irritated is informal and particularly common in American English.
Easily confused with steamed
Steamed means heated or cooked with steam, whereas streamed means flowed in a stream or was transmitted online.