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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
Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 26 Feb. 2025
Simultaneously, the fraught production history of multiple titles at Lucasfilm on her watch made the studio a kind of stand-in for Hollywood’s ongoing battle between filmmaker freedom and the storytelling by committee that drives much of the industry’s IP franchise adaptations.
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 25 Feb. 2025
The skills gap in the cybersecurity profession has long been a fraught challenge.
—Chris Dimitriadis, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
As Thomas Mann said, in another fraught period, there is no escaping politics in the arts.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fraught
Cite this Entry
“Fraught.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fraught. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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