fraughtfraught /frɔːt $ frɒːt/ adjective 
Their marriage has been fraught with difficulties.2full of anxiety or worry SYN tense: a fraught atmosphere a fraught situation Julie sounded rather fraught.
WORD ORIGINfraught
Origin:
1300-1400 Past participle of fraught ‘to load, fill’ (14-19 centuries), from Middle Dutch vracht ‘load’EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
- Alas! the centuries are fraught with pain, and man is burdened by fear and woe.
- And her reaction to her illness was, as best I can glean, fraught with fear, discouragement, and depression.
- And the idea of establishing another racial group in this racially fraught country is extreme.
- Attractive as that proposition has seemed in recent years, the form in which it has been pursued is fraught with difficulties.
- But it is said, too, that her passion brings her only a burden of pain, fraught with many sighs.
- Then I reminded myself that it is fraught with disappointments.
Longman Language Activatorfull of problems
full of problems and difficult to deal with: · It is important to understand the problematic nature of historical evidence.· The new salary scale remains a problematic area.highly problematic: · The Foreign Minister said that relations between the two countries are "highly problematic".
use this about an activity or plan that is full of unexpected problems which make it very difficult: · The preparations for the wedding were fraught with difficulties, but finally everything went well.· Legalization of drugs would be fraught with problems, but the "war on drugs" causes problems too.
an activity or subject where you have to be very careful, because it is full of hidden problems and risks, so that it is very easy to make mistakes or upset people: · House-buying can be a minefield -- you need a good lawyer.· Mozart's music seems so danceable, but most choreographers regard it as a minefield.
informal a situation or subject which at first seems to be simple and easy to deal with, but is full of complicated problems for anyone who gets involved with it: · Census questions about race are a pretty big can of worms.open up a can of worms (=suddenly find that you have to deal with a lot of difficult and unexpected problems): · The government opened up a can of worms when it decided to reorganize the education system.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY a fraught atmosphere a fraught situationCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a voyage that was fraught with peril (=full of danger)COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
a fraught atmosphere a fraught situation (=involve a lot of danger)· Their journey was long and fraught with danger.
(=involve a lot of them)· The whole plan was fraught with difficulties.
a voyage that was fraught with peril (=full of danger)· It is this lack of codified certainty that makes a study of it so fraught with difficulty.· No one had expected politics to become so fraught so early on in the post-handover political transition.· This is an area of human emotion so fraught with difficulty that attitudes to it are poles apart.
NOUN· To learn how to cope in such fraught situations and to survive can be a broadening experience.· Sarah, who lived near to the Brompton Hospital, visited her father regularly although Raine's hostility complicated an already fraught situation.· The police in Ajdabiya were mostly Magharba and Zuwaya, and senior officers took care in selecting men to police fraught situations.· Lowell's humour - unexpected - that could take the heat out of a fraught situation.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
1 fraught with problems/difficulties/danger etc full of problems etc: - Attractive as that proposition has seemed in recent years, the form in which it has been pursued is fraught with difficulties.
- For this whole business of killing, whether killing beasts or killing men, is supposed to be fraught with danger.
- He realized that what he was about to attempt was fraught with dangers, for Bernice and for himself.
- However, it is a move fraught with problems as our writers explain How long can it be taken as read?
- She had had a husband and lovers older than herself, and each affair had been fraught with problems.
- There are a number of tortured perspectives on how to get round this problem, but they are themselves fraught with problems.
- Thompson and Geir can agree, but their own deliverance was fraught with danger.
Their marriage has been fraught with difficulties.2full of anxiety or worry SYN tense: a fraught atmosphere a fraught situation Julie sounded rather fraught.