cooked

What does cooked mean?

Cooked describes someone or something as being in a state of possibly irreversible misfortune and hardship.

Examples of cooked

Target workers across the country are spending their nights fretting over their job security, heavy workloads, and potential store closures. "We are cooked," one Target worker wrote on Reddit. "Ummm..... Team are we cooked?" another Redditor asked, while sharing screenshots of media coverage of the retail giants' growing struggle.
— The Hindustan Times (New Delhi), 25 May 2025

The randomness is endemic to how Gen Z is trolling reality right now. "We're so cooked," read one caption for a video featuring a medley of uplifting clips set to Nicki Minaj's "Starships" and footage of missiles streaming through a night sky. This kind of video may make zero sense to an older person, or even seem unfunny, but to young people, calm is found in the distraction.
— USA Today, 25 June 2025

How cooked am I? Is my life over? Is it too late to change?
— Reddit.com, 25 Sept. 2024

Where does cooked come from?

Cooked has been used in the sense of “done for, finished” since the middle of the 19th century. The modern use appears to be a continuation of this, differing more in the manner in which it is used (‘chat, are we cooked?’) than in the meaning it carries.

…delicately hinted to those landed proprietors around him what he as a landlord had nobly done, giving them a gentle tap—follow, follow, which was and is the only source of relief; otherwise we were cooked.
— The Ipswich Journal (Ipswich, Eng.), 18 Jan. 1851

Here I am again, as lively as a kitten, though I’ve had the distemper cruel bad to be sure; but I’m a tough customer, and not easily knocked off my legs, as you knows. I though I was cooked once though…
— The Era (London, Eng.), 13 Feb. 1848

How is cooked used?

Cooked, in the meaning discussed here, has long been slang and informal, and shows no signs of becoming otherwise. You may wish to avoid its use in formal writing.