Meaning & use
Frito
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountabletrademarkAmerican
A small, thin, fried corn snack sold under the brand name Fritos, usually eaten from a bag.
Grammar: Usually used in the plural form Fritos: a bag of Fritos. The singular Frito is rare and sounds brand-like.
Patterns
- a bag of Fritos
- eat Fritos
He grabbed a bag of Fritos and a soda at the gas station.
The kids shared a bowl of Fritos while watching the game.
She crushed some Fritos and sprinkled them on top of the casserole.
adjectivenot comparableinformalregional
Fried; used in Spanish and in some Spanish-influenced English contexts to describe food cooked in hot oil.
Grammar: In English, this adjective is not common outside Spanish menus or bilingual contexts; it follows the noun in Spanish (e.g., plátanos fritos).
Patterns
- frito (as in plátanos fritos)
The menu listed plátanos fritos, which are fried sweet bananas.
In Spanish, 'huevos fritos' means fried eggs.
Word forms
| plural | Fritos |
|---|
Common combinations
- a bag of Fritos
- She bought a bag of Fritos for the road trip.
- Fritos pie
- Fritos pie is a dish made with corn chips, chili, and cheese.
- crushed Fritos
- He topped the salad with crushed Fritos for crunch.
- Fritos and dip
- They served Fritos and dip at the party.
Synonyms and how they differ
- corn chip
- A general term for a thin, fried corn snack; Fritos is a specific brand, so corn chip is the generic word you can use in any context.
- tortilla chip
- A similar snack made from corn tortillas; tortilla chips are usually flat and triangular, while Fritos are thicker and curved.
Word family
- Frito-Lay proper noun
- The company that makes Fritos and other snack brands.
Commonly confused: Frito or frijoles?
Frito vs frijoles
Frijoles is Spanish for beans, a different food; frito means fried. They sound a little similar but are not related in meaning.
Practice
Which sentence uses the word Frito correctly in everyday American English?
Choose one answer.
Fritos is the usual plural form for the snack you buy in a bag, so 'a bag of Fritos' is correct. Option A uses the singular 'a Frito', which is rare and sounds odd; option C uses frito as a verb, but the English verb is 'fried'; option D is wrong because Fritos are a corn snack, not a fruit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Frito”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.