frayed

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

• IPA^(key): /fɹeɪd/

  • Audio (Southern England):

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• Homophone: 'fraid
• Rhymes: -eɪd

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^[1], →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.

frayed

1. simple past and past participle of fray

• defray, fedary