Fixin' to means: About to; preparing to. "Fixin' to leave" = about to leave. Quintessentially Southern, particularly Texan and Appalachian.. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
fixin' to
About to; preparing to.
Definitions
#1·Apr 26, 2026
About to; preparing to. "Fixin' to leave" = about to leave. Quintessentially Southern, particularly Texan and Appalachian.
"I'm fixin' to head out."
Origin: Southern American English from the 1700s; "fix" in the sense of "prepare" is older English.
For parents
Fixin' to means: About to; preparing to. "Fixin' to leave" = about to leave. Quintessentially Southern, particularly Texan and Appalachian.. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
For ESL learners
fixin' to means: About to; preparing to. "Fixin' to leave" = about to leave. Quintessentially Southern, particularly Texan and Appalachian.. Register: neutral, standard English. A common learner mistake is using the word in a register it does not fit, or assuming a single global meaning; native speakers immediately notice when slang appears in formal contexts, so always check the surrounding register before producing it yourself.
Cluster: general
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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Other words near "fixin' to" (F)
fixfixed head coupéfixed penalty noticefixerfixer-upperfixingfix it again Tonyfix tofixturefix upfiyafizzen
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Semantically related
- finna77%
Going to / about to — contraction of "fixing to." "I'm finna leave" = "I'm about to leave." Ubiquitous in AAVE and documented as far back as the 1940s, though outside the US it still reads distinctly American.
- fix to76%
(intransitive, AAVE, Appalachia, and, Southern US, informal, dated) To intend or prepare to do something.
- about to66%
(obsolete, _, in affirmative) Indicates that one is preparing or planning to do the stated thing at some time in the future, not necessarily imminently.
- about to64%
(as negative 'not about to', informal, originally, _, US, Canada) Indicates that one has no intention of doing the stated thing at any time in the future.
- fix57%
(transitive) To mend, to repair.