frazzle
/ˈfraz(ə)l
/informal
verb [with object]
1 (as adjective frazzled) Completely exhausted: a frazzled parent...
- Maybe it was my tired state and slightly frazzled mind, but I couldn't help wondering: Why?
- Some have argued that the upshot of this is the emasculated man, unable to assert himself in his relationship, and also of the frazzled, controlling matriarch, who feels under pressure and under-appreciated.
- My frazzled brain keeps on trying to master the fundamentals and yesterday I proudly completed my first ‘tough’ puzzle (four hours, twelve minutes).
2Cause to shrivel up with burning: we frazzle our hair with heated appliances...
- From primitive men who shoved bones in their locks to impress their enemies to Francis I of France who, after accidentally frazzling his hair with a torch, set off a ‘hot’ new craze for short hair-styles.
- I would never have thought of deep-frying an avocado, but the result was certainly good, and the chilli jam was perfectly piquant without frazzling the tastebuds.
- A lightening bolt struck the school itself, blackening some of the walls and frazzling the electricity sockets.
noun (a frazzle)
1The state of being completely exhausted: I’m tired, worn to a frazzle...
- They figured that all men in the western hemisphere would be worn to a frazzle because they would try to watch all the matches (which all show in the wee hours of the morning) AND go to work too.
- As he didn't want Tanj worn to a frazzle, he directed her to gather ‘reinforcements‘.
- Worrying about the kid already had him worn to a frazzle.
2The state of being completely burnt: the grass was regrowing within days of being burnt to a frazzle...
- It will then turn into a swollen red giant, burning to a frazzle any life left here on Earth.
- On it, the frazzled remains of some poor beast were nicely complemented by rosti so thick and chewy it bore a strong resemblance to gardening twine.
- Her pulsating energy is normally symbolised by a frazzle of electrocuted hair.
Origin
Early 19th century: perhaps a blend of fray1 and obsolete fazle 'ravel out', of Germanic origin. The word was originally East Anglian dialect; it came into standard British English via the US.