fraught
Americanadjective
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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.
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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.
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Archaic. filled or laden.
ships fraught with precious wares.
noun
adjective
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filled or charged; attended
a venture fraught with peril
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informal showing or producing tension or anxiety
she looks rather fraught
a fraught situation
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archaic freighted
noun
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
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"This clumsy announcement is fraught with risk and we are concerned that forced disclosures could do more harm than good," said its chief executive Andy Burrows.
From BBC
The days ahead are fraught with potential catalysts.
From Barron's
There will be "more uncertainty, more volatility for businesses to navigate, and more fraught trade deals for countries to negotiate," Lipsky added.
From Barron's
And that window would be fraught with renewed uncertainty for American importers, particularly smaller ones with less agile supply chains and purchasing power – and for exporting businesses around the world.
From BBC
To be fair, though, trying to select winning stocks in a market as complicated, and as fraught with indiscriminate selling, as this one is a challenge.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
