frayed

[ freyd ]
See synonyms for frayed on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. 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.

  2. 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
  1. the simple past tense and past participle of fray2.

Origin of frayed

1
First recorded in 1810–20; fray2 + -ed2 for the adjective senses; fray2 + -ed1 for the verb sense

Words Nearby frayed

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use frayed in a sentence

  • Nevertheless, he was girt with a sword in a ragged scabbard hanging from a frayed and shabby belt of leather.

    St. Martin's Summer | Rafael Sabatini
  • Let alone its being months behind the fashion, it was frayed around the bottom and the front breadth was sorely stained.

  • And MacRae's patience snapped like a frayed thread before many minutes of futile query.

    Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • On the tenth floor, he moved quickly down the frayed carpet of a corridor and found the service stairs.

  • He raised his frayed cap politely and asked whether she were Mademoiselle Orlebar.

    The Doctor of Pimlico | William Le Queux