Skip to the word

Added 8 October 2026

frazzle

/ˈfɹæz(ə)l/ verb

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about frazzle at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To fray or wear down, especially at the edges.
The new puppy has been chewing on everything, and my favorite afghan has become frazzled.
To drain emotionally or physically.
After dealing with the children all day, I just can’t help feeling frazzled.

noun

A burnt fragment; a cinder or crisp.
The bacon was burned to a frazzle.
The condition or quality of being frazzled; a frayed end.
A messy situation or scene.

Origin

Originally an East Anglian word. Either from a variant of the now obsolete fazle (“to unravel”), altered due to influence from fray, or from a blend of fazle and fray. fazle comes from earlier fasel, which was inherited from Middle English facelyn (“[of the end of a rope, or of cloth] to unravel”). Middle English facelyn was a verbal derivative of the noun fasylle (“frayed edge”), which was in turn a derivative (with the diminutive suffix -el) of Old English fæs (“fringe, border”), from Proto-West Germanic *fas, from Proto-Germanic *fasōn. Related to German Faser (“fibre”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word