fraught

[ frawt ]

See synonyms for fraught on Thesaurus.com

adjective

full of, accompanied by, or involving something specified, usually something unpleasant (often followed by with): a task fraught with danger; her pain-fraught body;emotionally fraught lyrics;a gathering fraught with joyful sounds.
characterized by or causing tension or stress: He has always been overweight, so his relationship with food is fraught.We are living in fraught times.

Archaic. filled or laden: ships fraught with precious wares.

noun

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

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

Other words from fraught

o·ver·fraught, adjective
un·fraught, adjective

Words Nearby fraught

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fraught in a sentence

It’s a fraught category but may be helpful in understanding the merits of the show.
Baltimore exhibition of outsider art celebrates nature’s ‘excess’ with a wake-up call about pollution | Kelsey Ables | February 8, 2021 | 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.
How ‘Freaks and Geeks’ went from misfit dramedy to cult classic, as told by its cast and creators: ‘People just like it so much that it thrusts itself from the grave’ | Sonia Rao | January 27, 2021 | Washington Post
Drawing comparisons across cultures and time periods is a fraught business.
Coup attempts usually usher in long stretches of democratic decline, data shows | Christopher Ingraham | January 22, 2021 | 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.
After Capitol attack, social studies and civics teachers struggle with real-time history lessons | Joe Heim, Valerie Strauss | January 19, 2021 | Washington Post
It’s a fraught environment, not a place where any one person gets to make all the decisions.
House security chief said lawmaker wariness of military at Capitol drove his resistance to early request for National Guard | Rosalind Helderman, Beth Reinhard, Karoun Demirjian, Carol D. Leonnig | January 19, 2021 | Washington Post

This year, with slightly more worldliness and way fewer drinks consumed, I could see the emotionally fraught underbelly.
The Craziest Date Night for Single Jews, Where Mistletoe Is Ditched for Shots | Emily Shire | December 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
He was a!ways ready to tell a story that seemed fraught with significance.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days | David Freeman | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Due to the fraught relations between Turkey and Greece, he was safe.
The Unbelievable (True) Story of the World’s Most Infamous Hash Smuggler | Marlow Stern | November 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Yet, the relationship between American politics and la mode is more fraught.
How Oscar de la Renta Created First Lady Fashion | Raquel Laneri | October 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
But it is their fraught emotional relationship that makes the story so explosive.
Michael Sheen’s Masterful Study of Sex and Insecurity | Caryn James | September 28, 2014 | 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.
The Catacombs of Rome | William Henry Withrow
To do so at any price frequently demands skill, and is always fraught with consequences of some kind to the listener.
A Cursory History of Swearing | Julian Sharman
How rapidly past times came thronging over my memory, fraught with joy and grief!
My Ten Years' Imprisonment | Silvio Pellico
Interplanetary commerce, if and when it begins, will be fraught with all of the dangers that accompany pioneering expeditions.
Spacewrecked on Venus | Neil R. Jones
The trip promised to be perilous and fraught with danger, as well as grueling and full of hardships.
Spacewrecked on Venus | Neil R. Jones

British Dictionary definitions for fraught

fraught

/ (frɔːt) /

adjective

(usually postpositive and foll by with) filled or charged; attended: a venture fraught with peril
informal showing or producing tension or anxiety: she looks rather fraught; a fraught situation

archaic (usually postpositive and foll by with) freighted

noun

an obsolete word for freight

Origin of fraught

C14: from Middle Dutch vrachten, from vracht freight

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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