Meaning & use
convenience food
Last updated
UK/kənˈviːniəns fuːd/
US/kənˈviniəns fud/
Meaning
nouncountable or uncountable
Food that has been prepared in advance, such as ready meals or frozen dishes, so that it needs little cooking or effort.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: we eat too much convenience food. The plural convenience foods names different products.
Patterns
- rely on convenience food
- a diet of convenience food
After long shifts, she often relies on convenience food.
Many convenience foods contain a lot of salt.
Sales of convenience food rose during the busy holiday season.
Word forms
| plural | convenience foods |
|---|
Common combinations
- rely on convenience food
- Students often rely on convenience food.
- processed convenience food
- Processed convenience food can be high in sugar.
- buy convenience food
- They buy convenience food on busy weekdays.
- a convenience food aisle
- The convenience food aisle is next to the freezers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ready meal
- A ready meal is one specific product you heat and eat, while convenience food is the broader category.
- fast food
- Fast food is served quickly in restaurants, whereas convenience food is bought to prepare at home.
- TV dinner
- TV dinner is an older, American term for a frozen packaged meal.
Opposites
home cooking
Practice
Which item is the best example of convenience food?
Choose one answer.
Convenience food is ready or nearly ready to eat. Fresh produce, flour and scratch cooking all need more preparation.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “convenience food”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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