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

Derived Forms

• unfraught
  adjective
• overfraught
  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”; see freight

Explanation

Fraught means filled with something — often something bad. Your Thanksgiving was fraught with awkward moments when your family saw your blue hair, and it only got worse when you told them you'd quit law school to join the circus. Fraught is related to the word freight, and comes from the Middle English fraughten, meaning "to load with cargo." Think of a cargo ship loaded up with freight for a journey — it's full of supplies, just like Thanksgiving was filled with — or fraught with — awkward moments. Fraught can also describe a situation filled with distress. If relations between two countries are fraught, they are not getting along with each other.

Example Sentences

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been fraught since the Taliban authorities took power in Kabul for a second time in 2021.

From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026

But in his earlier picture of another Bostonian, a man with political views different from his own, he proved how a commercial engagement could reflect and even transcend a fraught political moment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

Yet even for an industry so fraught with perils and pitfalls, Chen, the miner who previously worked at Liushenyu, suggests there will always be desperate people willing to take their chances in the mines.

From BBC • May 31, 2026

Yet as fraught as it sounds — and as abruptly as it ends — I left elated.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026

The whole question is so fraught with stereotype that we often resist exploring difference so as not to be limited in interest or talent by ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or any other factor outside our control.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

Related Words

• charged
• filled
• replete