have other fish to fry

verb

To have more important things to do.

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Meanings

verbhave other fish to fry (third-person singular simple present has other fish to fry, present participle having other fish to fry, simple past and past participle had other fish to fry)

present singular third person has other fish to fry · participle present having other fish to fry · participle past had other fish to fry · past had other fish to fry

  1. idiomaticTo have more important things to do.

    I have other fish to fry; so good-morrow, my ladies all, good-morrow.

    c. 1710, The Journal to Stella, Jonathan Swift, ch. 2, Letter 15
    3 more examples

    Your uncle will not return yet; he has other fish to fry: he will be galloping backwards and forwards from Briarfield to Stilbro' all day, […]

    1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “To-Morrow”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 212

    "May I ask whether you will be persuaded to come?" "No, for certain. I have other fish to fry here."

    1905, George Bernard Shaw, chapter 15, in The Irrational Knot

    Actually, Hoxha and his partisans had other fish to fry than the Nazis.

    2012, Theodore Dalrymple, The Wilder Shores of Marx: Journeys in a Vanishing World

Translations

Catalan tenir altres coses a fer
  • tenir altres coses a ferto have more important things to do
Dutch andere katten te geselen hebben
  • andere katten te geselen hebbento have more important things to do
French avoir d'autres chats à fouetter
  • avoir d'autres chats à fouetterto have more important things to do
German andere Igel zu kämmen haben
  • andere Igel zu kämmen habento have more important things to do
Italian avere altre gatte da pelare
  • avere altre gatte da pelareto have more important things to do
Polish mieć inne sprawy do załatwienia
  • mieć inne sprawy do załatwieniato have more important things to do
Scottish Gaelic eadar e fhèin
  • eadar e fhèinto have more important things to do
Spanish tener otras cosas que hacer
  • tener otras cosas que hacerto have more important things to do
Cite this entry
APA

have other fish to fry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20other%20fish%20to%20fry

MLA

“have other fish to fry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20other%20fish%20to%20fry. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “have other fish to fry,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20other%20fish%20to%20fry.

Source: have other fish to fry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.