fraught

[ frawt ]

adjective

1. full of, accompanied by, or involving something specified, usually something unpleasant (often followed by with ): 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. usually postpositiveand foll bywith filled or charged; attended

   a venture fraught with peril

2. informal.
   showing or producing tension or anxiety

   a fraught situation

   she looks rather fraught

3. archaic.
   usually postpositiveand foll bywith freighted

noun

1. See freight
   an obsolete word for freight

Other Words From

• o·ver·fraught adjective
• un·fraught 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

It’s a fraught category but may be helpful in understanding the merits of the show.

From Washington Post

Our relationship was fraught on that show — we were either the best of friends or the worst of enemies over the course of even a day, because we were all these young, hormonal teen boys.

From Washington Post

Drawing comparisons across cultures and time periods is a fraught business.

From Washington Post

Some say their students are too young to understand, while others say the subject is too fraught with emotion and political controversy to deal with at any length — or at all.

From Washington Post

It’s a fraught environment, not a place where any one person gets to make all the decisions.

From Washington Post

This year, with slightly more worldliness and way fewer drinks consumed, I could see the emotionally fraught underbelly.

From The Daily Beast

He was a!ways ready to tell a story that seemed fraught with significance.

From The Daily Beast

Due to the fraught relations between Turkey and Greece, he was safe.

From The Daily Beast

Yet, the relationship between American politics and la mode is more fraught.

From The Daily Beast

But it is their fraught emotional relationship that makes the story so explosive.

From The Daily Beast

The influence of Constantine seems to have been fraught with more of evil than of good to the new religion that he espoused.

From Project Gutenberg

To do so at any price frequently demands skill, and is always fraught with consequences of some kind to the listener.

From Project Gutenberg

How rapidly past times came thronging over my memory, fraught with joy and grief!

From Project Gutenberg

Interplanetary commerce, if and when it begins, will be fraught with all of the dangers that accompany pioneering expeditions.

From Project Gutenberg

The trip promised to be perilous and fraught with danger, as well as grueling and full of hardships.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• charged
• filled
• replete