Frayed

//fɹeɪd// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    simple past and past participle of fray form-of, participle, past
Adjective
  1. 1
    Unravelled; worn at the end or edge.
  2. 2
    Exhausted, strained, beleaguered, or suffering from stress. figuratively

    "Although relations between the two adversaries were frayed on occasion, Pyeongyang and Washington were able to negotiate and reach a compromise on the key issues that divided them."

Adjective
  1. 1
    worn away or tattered along the edges wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
dowdydown at the heeldown-at-heeldown-at-the-heelsfrazzledfull of holes

Example

More examples

"Detective Columbo is always in a frayed raincoat."

Etymology

From fray + -ed, from Old French froiier (“to rub against, scrape; thrust against”), from Latin fricare (“to rub, rub down”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.