What does stewed mean?
Stewed describes food that has been cooked slowly by simmering it in liquid. This method, represented by the related noun stew, is especially associated with meat, vegetables, beans, and other ingredients whose flavors become tender and blended during prolonged cooking. The word can also be used as the past tense and past participle of the verb stew, as in “she stewed the beef” or “the beans were stewed.” In informal British English, stewed may mean worried or distressed, although the culinary meaning is much more common today. Stewed appears in familiar phrases such as “stewed beef” and “stewed vegetables.” The expression “let it stew” extends the cooking image figuratively, suggesting that a situation should be given time to develop or resolve itself rather than be hurried.
Cooked slowly by simmering in liquid; informally and chiefly British, worried or distressed.
"We enjoyed the stewed vegetables with fresh bread."
The culinary sense is common in British and American English. The sense meaning worried is informal and chiefly British.
The past tense and past participle of stew: to cook slowly by simmering in liquid.
"He stewed the chicken with vegetables and herbs."
Stewed functions as both the simple past tense and the past participle.
“Let it stew” turns patient cooking into a memorable metaphor for allowing a problem, plan, or situation to develop over time.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does stewed come from?
The modern word descends through Middle English from an Old French verb meaning to boil or cook slowly. The underlying Germanic ancestry of the French borrowing is not entirely certain, although related forms include English stew, stewpan, stewpot, and stove. In English, stew developed both its culinary meaning and the figurative expression “let it stew,” in which a situation is allowed to develop over time.
Related word forms
How stewed is actually used
The culinary sense is neutral and common in both British and American English. The informal sense meaning worried or distressed is chiefly British. As a verb form, stewed can function as either a past tense or a past participle.