as in tattered
worn or torn into or as if into rags
she wore a beloved but badly frayed flannel shirt
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in eroded
to damage or diminish by continued friction
constant rubbing against the rock face has badly frayed our climbing rope
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Recent Examples of frayed
Caitlin McFall, Fox News, 21 Mar. 2023
Adjective
After years of hostile and frayed relations, Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to reestablish diplomatic ties and reopen mutual embassies – a deal reportedly brokered by China that has raised eyebrows across the globe.
—Caitlin McFall, Fox News, 21 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for frayed
Adjective
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The other traditional party, the Liberal Party, has splintered between those who remain loyal to Zelaya and those who led the coup, including Mauricio Villeda, the presidential candidate who leads a tattered vestige of his party.—
Dana Frank,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Nov. 2013
-
What if standing up to Trump is the very thing that saves the Liberal Party, and Trudeau’s tattered legacy?—
Talib Visram,
TIME,
7 Feb. 2025
Verb
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But yet over the course of the 20th century, that land base eroded and in some instances slowly, but then in other instances rapidly.—
Tax Notes Staff,
Forbes.com,
8 Apr. 2025
-
Although economists continue to predict that growing numbers of jobs will require education beyond high school, public trust in the value of higher education has significantly eroded.—
Matt Gandal,
Forbes.com,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Cocker was famous for his ragged, one-of-a-kind covers of other acts’ famous songs, with Joel comparing the late singer to such legendary song interpreters as Frank Sinatra.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
1 Apr. 2025
-
Grand Canyon didn’t do enough to punish Maryland for its ragged start.—
Baltimore Sun staff,
Baltimore Sun,
21 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Like Napoleon’s Uncle Rico, who dwells on his long-ago high-school-football days, Garrett is living in the faded aura of past glory: in his case, a 1989 video-game championship.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
9 Apr. 2025
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As thousands of migrants cycled through its faded lobby, the Roosevelt turned into a lightning rod in the country’s immigration debate: both as a reminder of the depth of the crisis and as shorthand for critics opposed to the expenditure of taxpayer money on migrants.—
Luis Ferré-Sadurní,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Frayed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frayed. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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