Make Your Point > Archived Issues > FRAUGHT

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connect today's word to others: Our word fraught, meaning "filled, loaded, laden with," has a negative tone. So you might say, for example, that stories about time travel are fraught with plot holes. But you wouldn't say that a play was fraught with hilarious jokes. Instead, you would pick a word with a positive tone; maybe you'd say the play was re_____ with those jokes. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "FRAUGHT" "Fraught" used to mean "freight" or "cargo." And it also meant "loaded with something, laden with something," as in "a boat fraught with goods." But we don't use those literal meanings anymore. Today, when you say something is fraught with things, you mean it's filled with them, or accompanied by them. And, because it's usually bad things that situations are "fraught with," like danger and difficulties and bad consequences, the word "fraught" can also simply mean "complicated, difficult, and stressful." Pronunciation: FRAWT Part of speech: Adjective. (Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late." They can be used in two ways: 1. Right before a noun, as in "a fraught thing." 2. After a linking verb, as in "It was fraught." For this particular adjective, we also talk about "things fraught with other things.") Other common forms: none How to use it: "Fraught" has a negative tone.  We often use the phrase "something fraught with something else." Talk about a journey fraught with dangers, a country fraught with economic struggles, a policy fraught with risks, etc. Otherwise, we use "fraught" by itself to mean "worrisome, troublesome, distressing:" a fraught political scene, their fraught romantic history, the fraught relationship between China and Japan, the fraught world of competitive college admissions, her fraught position between her two good friends who hate each other, the fraught process of determining what is and what is not true art. Sometimes we'll add an adverb: "politically fraught," "emotionally fraught," "financially fraught." examples: Even though you can do it all online now, applying for college admissions remains a process fraught with worries. Netflix keeps my little one happy and quiet so I can get things done, but it's a fraught decision: how much do I let her watch? study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "fraught" means when you can explain it without saying "distressing" or "filled in a burdensome way." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "The relationship between _____ and _____ remains fraught." Example: "The relationship between the US and Russia remains fraught." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is called "Quirky Keepers."  We’ll play with a bunch of bizarre, oddly specific words—words that deserve a place in our vocabulary, even though they're too wacky and rare to explore in full issues of Make Your Point. (I found most of these words in Charles Harrington Elster’s outrageously entertaining book, There’s A Word For It: A Grandiloquent Guide to Life.) Our goal as we play is to squirrel the words away in our memories. So, in each issue, we’ll check out a word; in the following issue, I’ll give you a new example of that word, and you see if you can recall it. We’ll start with short words and work our way up to the six-, seven-, and eight-syllable doozies. See if you can recall the word from the previous issue: In school, you and your friends procrastinated on a group presentation until the night before you had to present it--and then you stayed up until 2:00 in the morning together, slaving over it, making it perfect. What's the word for that kind of last-minute effort? (It's two syllables.) See the answer by scrolling all the way down. Today, let’s check out the word "smellfeast." A smellfeast is someone who shows up, unasked, when it's time to eat. Remember, in the next issue I’ll give you an example of a smellfeast, without mentioning the word—and you’ll try to recall it. That'll help you keep it in your memory. review today's word: 1. One opposite of FRAUGHT is A. DELICIOUS. B. EXPEDIENT. C. EFFORTLESS. 2. Their history is fraught with _____. A. hard-won victories B. nerdy inside jokes  C. emotional pain Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answer to the game question: It's a charrette. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. C