Meaning & use
roasted
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“roasted” is a form of “roast”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Cooked in an oven or over fire with dry heat, so that the outside becomes browned.
Grammar: Usually placed before a noun: roasted chicken, roasted nuts.
Patterns
- roasted with something
We had roasted potatoes with the chicken.
The cafe sells roasted almonds in small paper bags.
A roasted red pepper adds sweetness to the sandwich.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Past tense and past participle of roast: cooked food, or heated coffee beans or nuts, with dry heat.
Grammar: Takes an object when someone cooks: she roasted the lamb. No object when the food cooks: the lamb roasted slowly.
Patterns
- roasted something in something
- roasted something over something
Dad roasted the vegetables in the oven for an hour.
They roasted marshmallows over the campfire.
The turkey roasted slowly while we set the table.
verbtransitiveinformal
Past tense of roast in the informal sense: teased or criticized someone harshly, often in a joking way in front of others.
Grammar: Takes an object, often a person: the comedian roasted his friend.
Patterns
- roasted someone for something
The comedians roasted the guest of honor all evening.
Her brothers roasted her for wearing a bright orange coat.
The critic roasted the film in a scathing review.
Word forms
| base form | roast |
|---|---|
| third person singular | roasts |
| -ing form | roasting |
Common combinations
- roasted vegetables
- Roasted vegetables go well with rice.
- roasted peanuts
- He bought a bag of roasted peanuts at the game.
- slow roasted
- The slow roasted pork fell apart with a fork.
- freshly roasted coffee
- The shop smells of freshly roasted coffee.
- roasted to perfection
- The duck was roasted to perfection.
Synonyms and how they differ
- baked
- Baked is used for bread, cakes and similar foods, while roasted usually suits meat, vegetables and nuts cooked until browned.
- grilled
- Grilled means cooked under or over direct heat, while roasted is done in the enclosed heat of an oven.
- toasted
- Toasted suggests browning bread or seeds quickly, whereas roasted suggests longer cooking.
- mocked
- Mocked is the neutral word for making fun of someone, but roasted adds a harsh, performance-like edge.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: roasted or toasted? roasted or rosted?
roasted vs toasted
Toasted food is browned quickly, as bread is in a toaster; roasted food is cooked longer in an oven or over fire.
roasted vs rosted
Rosted is a misspelling; the correct form has the vowel pair oa: roasted.
Practice
We ate chicken with ___ potatoes that had been cooked in the oven until golden.
Choose one answer.
Roasted potatoes are cooked with dry oven heat until browned. Boiled and steamed use water, and raw means uncooked.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “roasted”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.