1
: found good, faithful, or trustworthy through experience or testing
a tried recipe
2
: subjected to trials or distress
a kind but much-tried father

Examples of tried in a Sentence

a tried and trusted friend a tried method for catching sport fish
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
City leaders therefore decided to banish the zero and rely on the tried and tested Roman numerals. Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 9 May 2025 Predicting The Unpredictable Fortunately, there are some tried and true approaches to getting out in front of these types of unpredictable policy swings — many of which were developed and refined during the first Trump administration. Laura Clayton McDonnell, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025 Unlike the streaming services, which dares to different with many of their program entries, CBS recognizes the value of sticking with the tried and true with its older skewing audience. Marc Berman, Forbes.com, 7 May 2025 The other idea was that Guardiola would fall back on the tried and tested false-nine method, and there were plenty of candidates for that: Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish among them. Sam Lee, New York Times, 3 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for tried

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from past participle of trien to try, test

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of tried was in the 15th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tried.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tried. Accessed 29 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

tried

1 of 2
ˈtrīd

past and past participle of try

tried

2 of 2 adjective
: found good, faithful, or trustworthy through experience or testing
a tried recipe

More from Merriam-Webster on tried

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