fraught

/fɹɔːt/

//fɹɔːt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"fraught" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fraught” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #24,758. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#24,758
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The hire of a boat or ship to transport cargo.

Corpus desk

Index EN-fraught · fraught · English

fraught · rank #24,758 · 11 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #24,758
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH forage

Nearest frequency peer: forage (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “fraught”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “fraught” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

fraught vs fright
71% similar
fraught vs freight
71% similar
fraught vs fought
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for fraught
PropertyValue
Headwordfraught
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/fɹɔːt/
Letters7
Frequency rank#24,758
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “fraught”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).fraughtlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “forage” (#24,757), “freshness” (#24,759), “footwork” (#24,756). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “fraught” is #24,758. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around fraught (IPA /fɹɔːt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #24,758 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for fraught, with forms such as "farught", "ffraught", and "fraguht". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "fright", "freight", "fought", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fraught, fraght, freght (“transport of goods or people (usually by water); charge for such transport; facilities for such transport; cargo or passengers of a ship; ballast of a ship; goods in general; (figurative) burden; charge”), from … The correct English form is fraught, spelled F-R-A-U-G-H-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The hire of a boat or ship to transport cargo.
  2. 2
    Money paid to hire a vessel for this purpose; freight.
  3. 3
    The transportation of goods, especially in a boat or ship.
  4. 4
    A ship's cargo; freight, lading.
  5. 5
    Two bucketfuls.
  6. 6
    A burden, a load.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how fraught appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. fraught money
  2. VVell, goe / And bid the Merchants and my men diſpatch / And come aſhore, and ſee the fraught discharg'd.

Etymology

From Middle English fraught, fraght, freght (“transport of goods or people (usually by water); charge for such transport; facilities for such transport; cargo or passengers of a ship; ballast of a ship; goods in general; (figurative) burden; charge”), from Middle Dutch vracht, vrecht, or Middle Low German vracht, vrecht (“cargo, freight; charge for transport of goods”), from Proto-Germanic *fra-aihtiz, from *fra- (intensifying prefix) + Proto-Germanic *aihtiz (“acquisition; possessions, property”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“to come into possession of, obtain; to own, possess”)). Doublet of freight. Cognates * Danish fragt * Old English ǣht (“livestock; property; possession; power”) * Old High German frēht (“earnings”) (modern German fracht) * Swedish frakt

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • farught
  • ffraught
  • fraguht
  • fraugght
  • fraughht
  • fraughtt
  • fraugth
  • frauhgt
  • frraught
  • fruaght
  • rfaught

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fraught - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

farught2ffraught1fraguht2fraugght1fraughht1fraughtt1fraugth2frauhgt2
Edit distance from "fraught"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fraught"?
"fraught" is spelled F-R-A-U-G-H-T. The IPA pronunciation is /fɹɔːt/.
What does "fraught" mean?
As a noun, "fraught" means: The hire of a boat or ship to transport cargo.
What words are commonly confused with "fraught"?
"fraught" is commonly confused with "fright", "freight", "fought". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fraught"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fraught" is /fɹɔːt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "fraught"?
From Middle English fraught, fraght, freght (“transport of goods or people (usually by water); charge for such transport; facilities for such transport; cargo or passengers of a ship; ballast of a ship; goods in general; (figurative) burden; charg... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fraught", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fronted#24,760galilee#24,762grapple#24,768Erasmus#24,740

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

hickory11 variantscadence11 variantsMcKinney11 variantsminding11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list