Standard Lemma guide

frayed

adj · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /fɹeɪd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • homophone: 'fraid
  • rhymes with -eɪd
  • CMU ARPABET: F R EY1 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Unravelled; worn at the end or edge.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Exhausted, strained, beleaguered, or suffering from stress.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

simple past and past participle of fray

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, participle, past

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

worn away or tattered along the edges

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • frayed cuffs

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Galician: esfiañado — unravelled
  • German: ausgefranst — unravelled
  • German: zerfranst — unravelled
  • Māori: tāwekoweko — unravelled
  • Spanish: deshilachado — unravelled
  • Swedish: fransig — unravelled
  • Tagalog: lilit — unravelled