fraught
Full of worry
Fraught means filled with or accompanied by something undesirable: a situation fraught with danger, negotiations fraught with tension.
The word nearly always pairs with "with" and negative consequences.
In British English, fraught alone can mean anxious or tense: She looked fraught after the meeting.
The word carries a sense of burden or peril lurking beneath the surface.
Carrying a heavy load
- loadedWeighted or wealthy
- filledMade full, occupied
- weightedMade intentionally heavier
- heavyOf great mass
charged · rife · replete · overloaded · saturated · suffused · teeming · pregnant
Requiring much effort
- complicatedDifficult to understand
- troubledExperiencing distress or anxiety
- thornyHaving sharp protrusions
- riskyInvolving possible harm
perilous · hazardous · treacherous · dangerous · dicey · tricky · vexed · contentious
Strained or nervous
- nervousUneasy and apprehensive
- uneasyTroubled, not calm
- worriedTroubled by uncertainty
- apprehensiveFearful of future events
distressed · agitated · on-edge · strained · overwrought · distraught · troubled · fretful
Formally accused of crime
- volatileLiable to sudden change
- heatedWarmed or passionate
- explosiveProne to sudden detonation
- intenseExtreme in degree
contentious · strained · turbulent · stormy · combustible · precarious · unstable · delicate
burdened
Carrying a heavy load
heavy · charged · rife · replete · overloaded · saturated · suffused · teeming · pregnant · thick
difficult
Requiring much effort
- complicatedDifficult to understand
- troubledExperiencing distress or anxiety
- thornyHaving sharp protrusions
risky · perilous · hazardous · treacherous · dangerous · dicey · tricky · vexed · contentious · contested
tense
Strained or nervous
apprehensive · distressed · agitated · on-edge · strained · overwrought · distraught · troubled · fretful · perturbed
charged
Formally accused of crime
intense · contentious · strained · turbulent · stormy · combustible · precarious · unstable · delicate · touchy
- close callsclose call, near miss, narrow escape, close shave, nick of time
- burdenedburdened, laden, loaded, weighed down, overburdened
- overwhelmedstressed, overwhelmed, stressed out, burnt out, burned out
- tightnesstight, taut, snug, constricting, compressed