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An early instance of the word fraught occurs in the 14th century poem Richard Coer de Lion, about England’s King Richard I. “The drowmound was so hevy fraught / That unethe myght it saylen aught” is about a large fast-sailing ship so heavily fraught—that is, loaded—that it can barely sail. The use is typical for the time; originally, something that was fraught was laden with freight. For centuries, fraught continued to be used in relation to loaded ships, but its use was eventually broadened for situations that are heavy with tension, emotion, or some other weighty characteristic.
Examples of fraught in a Sentence
James Grebey, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025
Why care at all? DOOM meets a fraught moment with no answers.
—Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 4 Mar. 2025
The debate over free speech on campus became particularly fraught in recent years as college presidents came under scrutiny for how their institutions have handled a rise in antisemitism on their campuses since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
—Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2025
President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were scheduled to sign a minerals deal Friday at the White House and then hold a joint press conference in a choreographed show of solidarity aimed at repairing their increasingly fraught relationship.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 28 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Fraught.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fraught. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.
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