frayed
Americanadjective
-
worn to loose, raveled threads or fibers at the outer surface, edge, or end.
I wouldn’t trust that frayed rope to hold anybody’s weight.
She hid her hands in the frayed sleeves of her bathrobe.
-
strained, taxed, or weakened by constant stress; frazzled.
We're going to have a lot of frayed relationships coming out of this crisis.
Candlelight and soft music can soothe frayed nerves after a rough day.
verb
Etymology
Origin of frayed
First recorded in 1810–20; fray 2 + -ed 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; fray 2 + -ed 1 ( def. ) for the verb sense
Explanation
When something is threadbare or worn, you can describe it as frayed. Your hand-knit mittens will probably become frayed around the cuffs after many winters. If your favorite pair of jeans is frayed, it may be because you've worn them for years — or they could be deliberately, stylishly frayed from the minute you buy them. Things that are frayed are worn, even unraveling a bit. The earliest meaning, in fact, was "worn by rubbing," from the Middle French frayer, "rub against," by way of the Old French froiier, "rub or scrape," and the Latin root fricare, "to rub."
Vocabulary lists containing frayed
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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The Cay
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Free Lunch
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Frayed by strong winds, the second flag flew above Mount Suribachi for the remainder of the Iwo Jima campaign.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 5, 2021
Bush and George W. Bush administrations, is a contributing opinion writer and the author of “The Death of Politics: How to Heal Our Frayed Republic After Trump.”
From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2021
Frayed nerves result from living with his son’s family, so an elderly man befriends the youngster next door.
From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2020
Frayed relations between the Obama administration and the Karzai government loomed over the visit.
From Reuters • May 26, 2014
Frayed yellow threads of dawn were trailing through the sky when we finally reached the gate.
From "The Bridge Home" by Padma Venkatraman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
