frayed
/fɹeɪd/
"frayed" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“frayed” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #36,991 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #36,991
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Unravelled; worn at the end or edge.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | frayed |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /fɹeɪd/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #36,991 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “frayed” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for frayed is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /fɹeɪd/. Corpus data places it at rank #36,991 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for frayed, with forms such as "faryed", "ffrayed", and "fraeyd". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Fred", "fried", "freed", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From fray + -ed, from Old French froiier (“to rub against, scrape; thrust against”), from Latin fricare (“to rub, rub down”). The correct English form is frayed, spelled F-R-A-Y-E-D.
Definition
- 1Unravelled; worn at the end or edge.
- 2Exhausted, strained, beleaguered, or suffering from stress.
Etymology
From fray + -ed, from Old French froiier (“to rub against, scrape; thrust against”), from Latin fricare (“to rub, rub down”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: faryed,ffrayed,fraeyd,frayde,frayedd,frayyed,frrayed,fryaed,rfayed
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of frayed - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “frayed”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-R-A-Y-E-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /fɹeɪd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Fred” - see the side-by-side comparison. frayed vs Fred
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.