# cooked

In serious trouble, exhausted, defeated, or beyond an easy fix. “Am I cooked?” asks whether the situation is hopeless.

Canonical URL: https://slanglane.com/terms/cooked
Release: daily-2026-10-19
Checked: 2026-10-19T00:00:00.000Z
Register: Dramatic · usually negative
Language: general
Review: editorial

## Meaning

Being cooked usually means a person or situation is in bad shape. Before an exam, it may mean unprepared; after a long shift, exhausted; during a game, likely to lose. The precise problem comes from context, while the word adds a dramatic sense that things have gone too far.

“Am I cooked?” often invites advice or reassurance, sometimes about a very small mistake. It is not always literal despair. Crucially, being cooked is different from cooking or “let them cook,” which can praise someone’s work or ask that they be allowed to continue. The grammar can reverse the evaluation.

## Original examples

> The deadline is in an hour and we have not started. We are cooked.

In plain English: We are in serious trouble with the deadline.

Context: The negative situation supplies the meaning.

> After that overnight shift, I am absolutely cooked.

In plain English: I am exhausted.

Context: Here it is fatigue, not failure or wrongdoing.

## When it fits

Use it casually to dramatize a setback or tiredness. If someone seems genuinely distressed, respond to the actual problem rather than just matching the joke.

## Mind the context

Avoid assuming it describes intoxication or health in every context. Those are possible regional senses, not the default meaning of every online comment.

## Important differences

### let them cook

That usually means let someone continue developing an idea or doing something well. They are cooking can be positive; they are cooked is usually negative.

## Backstory

Cooked has older figurative uses for trouble and exhaustion, alongside its literal food meaning. Recent online uses extend those established metaphors rather than provide one clear first coinage.

## Questions

### Is cooked good or bad slang?

Being cooked is usually negative. Cooking can be praise, so check the form of the sentence.

### What should I reply to “am I cooked?”

Answer the situation: offer practical advice, reassurance, or a joke if it is clearly lighthearted.

## Sources

- [cooked — English entry](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cooked#English) — Wiktionary contributors. Checked 2026-10-19T00:00:00.000Z. Supports: meaning; usage.

Source texts retain their original licenses. Definitions and factual notes are research-informed; examples and usage advice are original SlangLane writing.