fraught

[frawt]

adjective

1. full of, accompanied by, or involving something specified, usually something unpleasant (often followed bywith ): her pain-fraught body; a gathering fraught with joyful sounds.

   a task fraught with danger;

   her pain-fraught body;

   emotionally fraught lyrics;

   a gathering fraught with joyful sounds.

2. characterized by or causing tension or stress: We are living in fraught times.

   He has always been overweight, so his relationship with food is fraught.

   We are living in fraught times.

3. Archaic.,  filled or laden.

   ships fraught with precious wares.

noun

1. Scot.,  a load; cargo; freight (of a ship).

fraught

/ frɔːt /

adjective

1. filled or charged; attended

   a venture fraught with peril

2. informal,  showing or producing tension or anxiety

   she looks rather fraught

   a fraught situation

3. archaic,  freighted

noun

1. an obsolete word for freight

Other Word Forms

• overfraught adjective
• unfraught adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fraught¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German vracht “freight money, freight”; compare Old High German frēht “earnings,” Old English ǣht “possession”; freight

Word History and Origins

Origin of fraught¹

C14: from Middle Dutch vrachten , from vracht _freight

Example Sentences

Both cases underscore a fraught question: how far can a president go in deploying domestic troops without consent from local leaders?

From Salon

Liverpool's high-wire act has been fraught with danger this season and the Premier League champions have now lost their balance spectacularly to fall from the top of the table.

From BBC

Ray’s mysterious and fraught history as a member of the British military during the Troubles is a festering boil this film will eventually lance.

From Los Angeles Times

"In these fraught times when Muslims in the UK can so easily feel beleaguered and unloved, what better time could there be to put things right and remind everyone of this contribution," she says.

From BBC

In practice, defining and then setting out to quantify the “housing you need” is an exercise fraught with messy data, guesstimation and an inconvenient need for judgement calls.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• charged 
• filled www.thesaurus.com
• replete