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Glite Dictionary
French fritter

French fritter

6.0
A deep-fried pastry made with yeast like a doughnut often dusted with powdered sugar
  • noun
  • /frɛntʃ ˈfrɪtər/
translation icon : buñuelo
  • The French fritter was crisp on the outside and light on the inside.

Examples

  • She dusted the warm French fritters with powdered sugar before serving.

  • I ordered a French fritter with my coffee at the bakery this morning.

  • I love to eat a French fritter for breakfast.

  • Have you ever tried a French fritter?

  • I ordered a French fritter with my coffee at the bakery this morning.

  • She dusted the warm French fritters with powdered sugar before serving.

  • The French fritter was crisp on the outside and light on the inside.

Synonyms

fritter
vsFrench fritter
17 3.0

A piece of fruit, meat, or vegetable coated in batter and deep-fried

is made from yeast-leavened dough rather than battered food pieces
beignet
vsFrench fritter
6 8.3

A soft fried pastry sprinkled with powdered sugar

is a broader nonregional name for the same yeast dough pastry

Surface Forms

French fritter singular
French fritters plural

Morphology

French + fritter

The noun is a straightforward composition of 'French' (relating to France/style) + 'fritter' (a fried batter-based food), so a learner who knows both words will infer it denotes a fried pastry of French style or origin. Specific baking details (yeast-leavened, dusted with sugar) are lexical refinements but the core meaning—a type of fried pastry—is directly predictable from the constituents.

Etymology

French fritter gets its name from French cooks who fried small pieces of sweet dough — a fritter — similar to 'beignets'. Picture the dough dropped into hot oil until it puffs and turns golden and is dusted with sugar, and that's why the name means a small, deep-fried pastry today.