fraught
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fraught¹
- /fɹɔːt/ UK
- /fɹoːt/ Australia, British, New Zealand
- /fɹɔt/ US
- /fɹɑt/ US, cot caught merger
- /fɾɔt/ Scotland
- /fɾɔːt/ Wales
Sounds like frot (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɔːt
Where it comes from
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
noun fraughts
- The hire of a boat or ship to transport cargo.
- Money paid to hire a vessel for this purpose; freight. fraught money
- The transportation of goods, especially in a boat or ship.
- A ship's cargo; freight, lading. VVell, goe / And bid the Merchants and my men diſpatch / And come aſhore, and ſee the fraught discharg'd.
- Two bucketfuls. The manse […] is reached […] by a wide, straight path, so rough that to carry a fraught of water to the manse without spilling was to be superlatively good at one thing.
- A burden, a load. Thoſe morning haunts are vvhere they ſhould be at home, not ſleeping, or concocting the ſurfets of an irregular Feaſt, but up and ſtirring, […] in Summer as oft vvith the Bird that firſt rouſes, or not much tardier, to reade good Authors, or cauſe them to be read, till the Attention be vveary, or Me
fraught²
- /fɹɔːt/ UK
- /fɹoːt/ Australia, British, New Zealand
- /fɹɔt/ US
- /fɹɑt/ US, cot caught merger
- /fɾɔt/ Scotland
- /fɾɔːt/ Wales
Sounds like frot (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɔːt
Where it comes from
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).
verb fraughts · fraughting · fraught · fraughted
- To load (a boat, ship, or other vessel) with cargo. The ſhips are ſafe thou ſaiſt, and richly fraught?
- To burden or load (someone or something). From God these heavy cares are sent for our unrests; / And with such burdens for our wealth he fraughteth full our breasts.
- Followed by with: to furnish or provide (something). Therefore in ſayinge that he ſeeketh to none in heauẽ ſaue only god, he reiecteth all the counterfet Gods with which the comon errour & foly of yͤ world fraughteth heauen.
- To hire (a vessel) to transport cargo or passengers.
- To transport (cargo or passengers) in a vessel; to freight.
- To form the cargo or passengers of a vessel. Had I byn any God of povver, I vvould / Have ſuncke the Sea vvithin the Earth, or ere / It ſhould the good Ship ſo haue ſvvallovv'd, and / The fraughting Soules within her.
adjective more fraught · fraughter · most fraught · fraughtest
-
Of a boat, ship, or other vessel: laden with cargo.
The ſhippes retyre with riches full yfraught, […]
Similar: freighted · Opposite: unfraught, unfreighted
- Followed by with: carrying, or charged or loaded up with (usually something negative); accompanied by; entailing. [O]ne the other fiercely did encounter, / Like Lions two yfraught with boyling wrath, […]
-
Carrying or loaded with anxiety, fear, or stress, for example, due to complexity or difficulty; distressed; also, causing distress; distressing.
a fraught relationship a fraught process
Similar: wrought-up · Opposite: unfraught
- Followed by with: furnished, provided. [W]hen the worlde is fraughted with ſo manye varlettes, that it will be a long time ere a man ſhall diſcerne the faythful from the Hipocrites.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: full, troubled, pregnant, load-bearing, heavy-duty, marked, tagged, prey, many, sown, loaded, completed, taut, strained, onerous, tight
Translations
Every language
adj of a boat, ship, or other vessel: laden with cargo
| Español | cargado |
|---|---|
| Português | sobrecarregado |
| Français | chargé |
| Deutsch | beladen, belastet, befrachtet |
| Русский | нагру́женный nagrúžennyj, гру́женый grúženyj |
adj carrying, or charged or loaded up with (usually something negative)
| Español | cargado |
|---|---|
| Português | repleto |
| Français | chargé, plein, rempli |
| Deutsch | voll, belastet, beladen |
| Italiano | gravido, pieno, carico |
| Ελληνικά | γεμάτος gemátos, φορτωμένος fortoménos, πλήρης plíris |
| Русский | по́лный pólnyj, преиспо́лненный preispólnennyj, чрева́тый črevátyj |
| العربية | مَمْلُوء mamlūʔ |
adj carrying or loaded with anxiety, fear, or stress — see also distressed
| Español | angustiado, tenso |
|---|---|
| Português | problemático, inquietante |
| Français | stressant, tendu |
| Deutsch | angespannt, gespannt, belastet, nervenaufreibend, hektisch |
| Italiano | teso |
| Ελληνικά | γεμάτος gemátos, φορτωμένος fortoménos |
| Русский | удручённый udručónnyj, пода́вленный podávlennyj |
Talk about this word "fraught." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/fraught. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. fraught. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/fraught "fraught." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/fraught.Cite this
@misc{fraught_2026,
title = {fraught},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/fraught},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
