Word
fritz
Phoneticsfritz
US/ˈfɹɪts/
UK/fɹˈɪts/
Definitions
01on the fritz
n. a state of not working correctly or being broken.
n. a state of disorder or malfunction, almost exclusively used in the prepositional phrase 'on the fritz'.
“The air conditioner is on the fritz again, so the living room is very hot.”
“The office printer has been on the fritz all morning, forcing the administrative staff to use the slower machine in the basement.”
Informal · American English
Usage
Usually appears in the fixed idiom 'on the fritz'.
Teaching tip
While the origin is debated, it is a very common way to describe household appliances or electronics that are acting up.
Synonyms
Antonyms
02to break or malfunction
v. to stop working or to start having problems.
v. to malfunction or become defective; often implies a sudden or flickering failure of an electronic component.
“The television fritzed out right in the middle of the movie.”
“The ancient server fritzed after the power surge, resulting in a total loss of unsaved data from the afternoon session.”
Informal · Slang
Usage
Often used with the particle 'out'.
Teaching tip
This verb form is less common than the noun idiom but is frequently heard in tech-heavy environments.
Synonyms
03German person
n. a name used for a German person, especially a soldier in older films or books.
n. a disparaging or offensive ethnonym for a German person, particularly associated with the World Wars.
“In the old war movie, the soldiers referred to the enemy as Fritz.”
“The veteran's memoir frequently used the term Fritz to refer to the opposing forces he encountered during the 1944 campaign.”
Archaic · British English
Teaching tip
This sense is largely historical and can be considered offensive; learners should be aware of it for reading older literature but avoid using it in speech.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from German Fritz, pet form of Friedrich (“Frederick”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Idioms
fritz up — To go on the fritz, to become broken or malfunctioning.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/fritz