fraught

American  

[frawt] / frɔt /

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.

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noun

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

fraught British  

/ 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

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noun

1. an obsolete word for freight

Other Word Forms

• overfraught adjective
• unfraught adjective

Etymology

Origin of fraught

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

Related Words

• charged
• filled
• replete