processed

adj — 2 senses

processed

adj

UK /ˈpɹəʊsɛst/ · US /ˈpɹɑsɛst/

Etymology From process + -ed.

1

That has completed a required process.

The processed data can now be used to generate statistics.
The bank returned her processed application by mail.

2

Modified through manufacture such as refinement or food processing.

Processed foods are of dubious nutritional value.
You know why I stopped eating processed foods? I began to picture the people who might be processing them.1997, George Carlin, Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 80:

1 more example

Of the 10 ultraprocessed food categories they looked at, two were clearly associated with greater risk: sugar-sweetened drinks (like soda and fruit punch) and processed meat, poultry and fish (like bacon, hot dogs, breaded fish products, chicken sausages and salami sandwiches).2024 September 5, Alice Callahan, “Are Some Ultraprocessed Foods Worse Than Others?”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 14 Sep 2024:

Synonyms: refined, manufactured
Antonyms: unprocessed, modified through manufacture
Derived terms: cryo-processed, Dutch-processed, hydroprocessed, hyperprocessed, immunoprocessed, microprocessed, nonprocessed, processed cheese, processed food, processed meat, semiprocessed, ultraprocessed, ultra-processed, ultra-processed food
Related terms: synthetic

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.