Use cooked for food that has been prepared with heat and is no longer raw.
Use cooked for food that has been prepared with heat and is no longer raw.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The cooked salad was crisp and raw. | The raw salad was crisp and fresh. |
| Serve the chicken when it still looks raw and cooked. | Serve the chicken when it is fully cooked. |
| I bought cooked bananas from the fruit stand. | I bought ripe bananas from the fruit stand. |
| The cooked steak is still cooking. | The cooked steak is ready to serve. |
Use cooked as the regular past tense or past participle of cook.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| They will cooked dinner later. | They will cook dinner later. |
| She has cooked dinner yesterday. | She cooked dinner yesterday. |
| I am cooked the pasta now. | I am cooking the pasta now. |
| He cooked a salad without heat. | He made a salad without heat. |
Use cooked in casual speech when someone is exhausted, overwhelmed, in trouble, or likely to lose.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| I am cooked after one easy email. | I am tired after one easy email. |
| The team is cooked, but it still has three easy ways to win. | The team is still in a good position to win. |
| She is cooked for the party tonight. | She is ready for the party tonight. |
| The file is cooked because I saved it correctly. | The file is safe because I saved it correctly. |
Use cooked for manipulated figures, accounts, reports, or evidence, especially in phrases like cooked the books.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The honest report was cooked. | The honest report was accurate. |
| They cooked the books by checking every number carefully. | They audited the books by checking every number carefully. |
| The raw chicken was cooked evidence. | The raw chicken was uncooked food. |
| The figures were cooked, so the audit found no problem. | The figures were cooked, so the audit found fraud. |
Use cooked literally for heated food, grammatically as the past form of cook, and informally for trouble, exhaustion, doom, or falsified records.
A mild inconvenience is called cooked even when nothing serious or exhausting has happened.
From the verb cook, from Old English coc, meaning a cook, and related to Latin coquere, meaning to cook. The slang sense grows from the idea of something being finished, used up, or past saving.
What does cooked mean in slang?
In slang, cooked means exhausted, overwhelmed, in trouble, doomed, or facing a bad outcome that feels hard to avoid.
Can cooked mean tired?
Yes. Cooked can mean completely worn out, especially after work, stress, exercise, or a long day.
What does we are cooked mean?
We are cooked means the group is in serious trouble or probably cannot avoid a bad result.
Is cooked formal?
The food and verb uses are ordinary, but the trouble or exhaustion sense of cooked is slang.
What does cooked food mean?
Cooked food has been heated enough to be ready to eat.
Is cooked a verb form?
Yes. Cooked is the regular past tense and past participle of cook.
What does cooked the books mean?
Cooked the books means falsified accounts or financial records.
What is the opposite of slang cooked?
Depending on context, the opposite can be fine, safe, rested, recoverable, or viable.
Where does cooked come from?
Cooked comes from cook, and the slang sense extends the idea of being finished, used up, or past saving.