Word
fraught
US/ˈfɹɔt/
UK/fɹˈɔːt/
Definition
adj. full of problems, danger, or worry. You use this to describe a situation that feels tense or difficult.
adj. filled or teeming with something undesirable; causing or affected by great anxiety or stress. Often used predicatively with the preposition 'with'.
Examples
“The long journey was fraught with danger.”
“The atmosphere in the office became fraught as the deadline for the major merger approached.”
“Navigating the legal complexities of international trade is often fraught with unforeseen bureaucratic hurdles that can delay shipments for months.”
Examples
simple
“The long journey was fraught with danger.”
contextual
“The atmosphere in the office became fraught as the deadline for the major merger approached.”
complex
“Navigating the legal complexities of international trade is often fraught with unforeseen bureaucratic hurdles that can delay shipments for months.”
Usage
Typically follows a linking verb and is followed by the preposition 'with' when describing a situation full of risks.
Pitfall
a fraught situation of risks
a situation fraught with risks
When describing what a situation is full of, the adjective must be followed by 'with' rather than 'of'.
Real-World Examples
“Unsurprisingly, having Gemini operate even simple apps is very slow and fraught with errors.” “Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images The fallout around Arday has landed in the middle of a fraught and nasty public debate about DEI, which has pushed Black people into a particular rhetorical position.” Etymology
From Middle English fraught, fraght, freght (“transport of goods or people (usually by water); charge for such transport; facilities for such transport; cargo or passengers of a ship; ballast of a ship; goods in general; (figurative) burden; charge”), from Middle Dutch vracht, vrecht, or Middle Low German vracht, vrecht (“cargo, freight; charge for transport of goods”), from Proto-Germanic fra-aihtiz, from fra- (intensifying prefix) + Proto-Germanic aihtiz (“acquisition; possessions, property”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂eyḱ- (“to come into possession of, obtain; to own, possess”)). Doublet of freight. Cognates * Danish fragt * Old English ǣht (“livestock; property; possession; power”) * Old High German frēht (“earnings”) (modern German fracht) * Swedish frakt
The verb is derived from Middle English fraughten, fraghten, freghten (“to hire (a ship, etc.) for transporting goods; to load (a ship, etc.) with cargo or passengers; to store, stow away; (figurative) to provide an ample supply of (goods, income, etc.)”), from Middle Dutch vrachten, vrechten, from vracht, vrecht (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming infinitives of verbs). The adjective is derived from Middle English fraught, fraght (“burdened, loaded”), the past participle of fraughten, fraghten (verb) (see above).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.C1 AdvancedIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.7.0–8.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 5.0–5.595–113TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.945–990
- Frequency
- Occasional
- Level
- C1 · Advanced
- Updated
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QR code
englishreference.com/q/fraught