fritz

play

noun \ ˈfrits \

Definition of fritz

:a state of disorder or disrepair —used in the phrase on the fritz

See fritz defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of fritz from the Web

Nearly every Jaguar Land Rover product that passes through our parking lot suffers from similar touchscreen maladies and curious fritz-prone electronics.

— alexander stoklosa, Car and Driver, "2016 Range Rover Td6 Diesel," 6 July 2017
During one of these tests, the technology goes on the fritz and Eli ends up trapped in his own mind.

— gieson cacho, The Mercury News, "Preview: ‘FORM’ takes an episodic approach to VR game," 18 May 2017
Trump's campaign was on the fritz when Bannon and Conway joined up during the summer of 2016.

— gregory krieg, CNN, "'Donald Trump is frustrated with his staff': a brief history," 9 May 2017
The U.S. radars that had gone on the fritz were part of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System, which was dedicated to scanning the skies for incoming Soviet missiles.

— National Geographic, "How Sun-Watchers Stopped World War III in 1967," 11 Aug. 2016
The last server crash cost them 10,000 subscribers when the e-mail database went on the fritz.

— leander kahney, WIRED, "Gossips: Will Dish for Cash," 29 Mar. 2001

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fritz.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.