fraying

/ˈfɹeɪ.ɪŋ/

//ˈfɹeɪ.ɪŋ// verb

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

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

The verdict

“fraying” is uncommon English (frequency #66,673 among 18,613 “F” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,673
frequency rank, English
18,613
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - present participle and gerund of fray

Key facts for fraying
PropertyValue
Headwordfraying
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈfɹeɪ.ɪŋ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#66,673
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “fraying” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). fraying lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

fraying is uncommon English at frequency #66,673 among 18,613 “F” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈfɹeɪ.ɪŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "present participle and gerund of fray".

No generated misspelling entries exist for fraying in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is fraying, spelled F-R-A-Y-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of fray

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 "fraying"?
"fraying" is spelled F-R-A-Y-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɹeɪ.ɪŋ/.
What does "fraying" mean?
As a verb, "fraying" means: present participle and gerund of fray
How do you pronounce "fraying"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fraying" is /ˈfɹeɪ.ɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fraying" come from?
"fraying" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Using “fraying”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is F-R-A-Y-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈfɹeɪ.ɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list