frayed
/fɹeɪd/adjective, verb
frayed is spelled F-R-A-Y-E-D: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, frayed means “Unravelled; worn at the end or edge” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in frayed?
| Letters | 6: F-R-A-Y-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,998th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is frayed?
Frayed appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce frayed?
- /fɹeɪd/
Frayed has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-frayed.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with frayed?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as frayed.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: defray.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of frayed
- more frayed comparative
- most frayed superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does frayed mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Unravelled; worn at the end or edge.
- 2
Exhausted, strained, beleaguered, or suffering from stress.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of fray
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Frayed in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense unravelled:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | ausgefranst, zerfranst |
| Spanish | deshilachado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does frayed come from?
From fray + -ed, from Old French froiier (“to rub against, scrape; thrust against”), from Latin fricare (“to rub, rub down”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).