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Glite Dictionary
🛑 Not working 🛑 To break down 🇩🇪 A German person
fritz

fritz

19 7.7
Not working properly, often broken
  • noun
  • /frɪts/
  • Informal
translation icon : avería
  • The Christmas lights are on the fritz again.
  • went on the fritz

Examples

  • The radio's on the fritz.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • My toaster's on the fritz.

    Critical Condition (1987)

  • Our computer went on the fritz again.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Yeah, but he said his phone was on the fritz.

    Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

  • Alarm clock on the fritz again?

    Labor Pains (2009)

  • The ice machine a few feet outside his door was on the fritz.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • By the way, is your truck also on the fritz?

    Fiction book (1993)

  • All the monitors are on the fritz.

    The Son of Bigfoot (2017)

  • Our furnace is on the fritz.

    Blog text (23)

  • The microwave is on the fritz, and I can't heat my coffee.

Idioms

on the fritz
  • Informal
17 8.9

Not working properly, like a machine or phone

How Well

working
1.0
to glitch
  • Specialized
3 5.8
fritz
  • Informal
19 7.7
malfunction
96 4.5
breakdown
7 3.5

Surface Forms

fritz singular
fritzes plural

Etymology

Fritz as in 'on the fritz' probably comes from the German name Fritz, which English speakers began using in the early 1900s. A helpful way to remember it is to imagine a machine called 'Fritz' that stops working, so when something is 'on the fritz' it is not working.