frayed

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɹeɪd/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Homophone: 'fraid
• Rhymes: -eɪd

Adjective

frayed (comparative more frayed, superlative most frayed)

1. Unravelled; worn at the end or edge.
2. (figurative) Exhausted, strained, beleaguered, or suffering from stress.
   • 2006, Koh Yu-hwan, “Assessment of the Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks”, in Alfonso Ojeda, Alvaro Hidalgo, editors, North Korea and Regional Security‎, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 45:

     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.

Derived terms

• frayedness
• unfrayed

Translations

unravelled

Galician: esfiañado German: ausgefranst (de), zerfranst (de) Maori: tāwekoweko Spanish: deshilachado (es) Swedish: fransig (sv) Tagalog: lilit

Verb

frayed

1. simple past and past participle of fray

Anagrams

• defray, fedary