frayed

American  

[freyd] / freɪd /

adjective

1. worn to loose, raveled threads or fibers at the outer surface, edge, or end.

   I wouldn’t trust that frayed rope to hold anybody’s weight.

   She hid her hands in the frayed sleeves of her bathrobe.

2. strained, taxed, or weakened by constant stress; frazzled.

   We're going to have a lot of frayed relationships coming out of this crisis.

   Candlelight and soft music can soothe frayed nerves after a rough day.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of fray.

Etymology

Origin of frayed

First recorded in 1810–20; fray ² + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; fray ² + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Explanation

When something is threadbare or worn, you can describe it as frayed. Your hand-knit mittens will probably become frayed around the cuffs after many winters. If your favorite pair of jeans is frayed, it may be because you've worn them for years — or they could be deliberately, stylishly frayed from the minute you buy them. Things that are frayed are worn, even unraveling a bit. The earliest meaning, in fact, was "worn by rubbing," from the Middle French frayer, "rub against," by way of the Old French froiier, "rub or scrape," and the Latin root fricare, "to rub."

Example Sentences

But the dalliance frayed after widespread antigovernment protests in 2011 drew the Kremlin’s attention to the reach of blogs and social-media platforms that opposition leaders like Alexei Navalny used to rally supporters and expose corruption.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

It now transpires that, prior to the king's informal comments, Sheinbaum had offered to rekindle the ties between Mexico and Spain that had become frayed by the issue.

From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026

The week immediately before the attacks, as diplomacy frayed, Iranian exports were back at their normal levels.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 6, 2026

The previously scheduled White House meeting Tuesday had been expected to focus on the Ukraine war, US-EU trade tensions and a wider effort to salvage frayed transatlantic ties.

From Barron's • Mar. 2, 2026

I asked, touching the frayed skin around his thumbnail.

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez

Related Words

• crummy
• decaying
• decrepit
• desolate
• dilapidated
• dingy
• pitiful
• ramshackle
• ratty
• rickety
• run down
• scruffy
• seedy
• shoddy
• squalid
• tacky
• tattered
• threadbare
• worn