noun
Meaning 1
A burnt fragment; a cinder or crisp.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal
Examples
- The bacon was burned to a frazzle.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
frazzle
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.
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/ˈfɹæz(ə)l/
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rhymes with -æzəl
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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homophone: frazil
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CMU ARPABET: F R AE1 Z AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
The condition or quality of being frazzled; a frayed end.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal
Examples
- 1886–90, John G. Nicolay and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln: A History Gordon had sent word to Lee that he had fought his corps to a frazzle
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A messy situation or scene.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To fray or wear down, especially at the edges.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- The new puppy has been chewing on everything, and my favorite afghan has become frazzled.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To drain emotionally or physically.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- After dealing with the children all day, I just can’t help feeling frazzled.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
a state of extreme exhaustion
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he was worn to a frazzle
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: exhaustion
verb
Meaning 7
exhaust physically or emotionally
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- She was frazzled after the visit of her in-laws
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: exhaust, wash up, beat, tucker, tucker out
verb
Meaning 8
wear away by rubbing
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The friction frayed the sleeve
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: fray
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: break, wear, wear out, bust, fall apart
History
Etymology
Originally an East Anglian word. Either from a variant of the now obsolete fazle (“to unravel”), altered due to influence from fray, or from a blend of fazle and fray. fazle comes from earlier fasel, which was inherited from Middle English facelyn (“[of the end of a rope, or of cloth] to unravel”). Middle English facelyn was a verbal derivative of the noun fasylle (“frayed edge”), which was in turn a derivative (with the diminutive suffix -el) of Old English fæs (“fringe, border”), from Proto-West Germanic *fas, from Proto-Germanic *fasōn. Related to German Faser (“fibre”).