Fraught

/fɹɔːt/ adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: The hire of a boat or ship to transport cargo.
  • Grammar: fraught is listed as adj, noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: anxious, attended by, burdened, burdensome.
  • Useful contrasts: empty, calm, casual.
  • Usage evidence: Her pregnancy was fraught with complications.

How to use "fraught"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "fraught" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "fraught" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "fraught" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "fraught" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "fraught" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "anxious" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "fraught", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The hire of a boat or ship to transport cargo. also, figuratively, obsolete, uncountable, usually
  2. 2
    Money paid to hire a vessel for this purpose; freight. also, figuratively, obsolete, uncountable, usually

    "fraught money"

  3. 3
    The transportation of goods, especially in a boat or ship. also, figuratively, obsolete, uncountable, usually
  4. 4
    A ship's cargo; freight, lading. also, figuratively, obsolete, uncountable, usually

    "VVell, goe / And bid the Merchants and my men diſpatch / And come aſhore, and ſee the fraught discharg'd."

  5. 5
    Two bucketfuls. also, figuratively, obsolete, uncountable, usually

    "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."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    A burden, a load. also, figuratively, obsolete, uncountable, usually

    "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 Memory have its full fraught: […]"

Verb
  1. 1
    To load (a boat, ship, or other vessel) with cargo. also, figuratively, obsolete, transitive

    "The ſhips are ſafe thou ſaiſt, and richly fraught?"

  2. 2
    To burden or load (someone or something). also, archaic, figuratively, obsolete, transitive

    "From God these heavy cares are sent for our unrests; / And with such burdens for our wealth he fraughteth full our breasts."

  3. 3
    Followed by with: to furnish or provide (something). also, archaic, figuratively, obsolete, transitive

    "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."

  4. 4
    To hire (a vessel) to transport cargo or passengers. Scotland, also, figuratively, obsolete, transitive
  5. 5
    To transport (cargo or passengers) in a vessel; to freight. Scotland, also, figuratively, obsolete, transitive
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    To form the cargo or passengers of a vessel. also, figuratively, intransitive, obsolete

    "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
  1. 1
    Of a boat, ship, or other vessel: laden with cargo. also, figuratively, obsolete

    "The ſhippes retyre with riches full yfraught, […]"

  2. 2
    Followed by with: carrying, or charged or loaded up with (usually something negative); accompanied by; entailing. also, figuratively, obsolete

    "[O]ne the other fiercely did encounter, / Like Lions two yfraught with boyling wrath, […]"

  3. 3
    Carrying or loaded with anxiety, fear, or stress, for example, due to complexity or difficulty; distressed; also, causing distress; distressing. also, figuratively, obsolete, specifically

    "a fraught relationship    a fraught process"

  4. 4
    Followed by with: furnished, provided. also, figuratively, obsolete

    "[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."

Adjective
  1. 1
    filled with or attended with wordnet
  2. 2
    marked by distress wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
anxiousattended byburdenedburdensomechargedcharged

Example

"Her pregnancy was fraught with complications."

Common questions

What does "fraught" mean?

The hire of a boat or ship to transport cargo.

What is a synonym for "fraught"?

Common synonyms include: anxious, attended by, burdened, burdensome, charged, charged.

How do you use "fraught" in a sentence?

Her pregnancy was fraught with complications.

How do you pronounce "fraught"?

Pronounced /fɹɔːt/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

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).

More for "fraught"

Synonyms

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