fret

¹ American  

[fret] / frɛt /

verb (used without object)

fretted, fretting

1. to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent, or the like.

   Fretting about the lost ring isn't going to help.

   Synonyms:

   rage, fume

2. to cause corrosion; gnaw into something.

   acids that fret at the strongest metals.

3. to make a way by gnawing, corrosion, wearing away, etc..

   The river frets at its banks until a new channel is formed.

4. to become eaten, worn, or corroded (often followed byaway ).

   Limestone slowly frets away under pounding by the wind and rain.

5. to move in agitation or commotion, as water.

   water fretting over the stones of a brook.

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verb (used with object)

fretted, fretting

1. to torment; irritate, annoy, or vex.

   You mustn't fret yourself about that.

   Synonyms:

   tease, goad, harass, worry

2. to wear away or consume by gnawing, friction, rust, corrosives, etc..

   the ocean fretting its shores.

   Synonyms:

   rub, grind, abrade, corrode, gnaw, erode

3. to form or make by wearing away a substance.

   The river had fretted an underground passage.

4. to agitate (water).

   Strong winds were fretting the channel.

noun

1. an irritated state of mind; annoyance; vexation.

   Synonyms:

   worry, agitation, harassment

2. Now Rare.

   1. a wearing away; erosion; corrosion.

   2. a worn or eroded place.

fret ² American  

[fret] / frɛt /

noun

1. an interlaced, angular design; fretwork.

2. an angular design of bands within a border.

3. Heraldry. a charge composed of two diagonal strips interlacing with and crossing at the center of a mascle.

4. a piece of decoratively pierced work placed in a clock case to deaden the sound of the mechanism.

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verb (used with object)

fretted, fretting

1. to ornament with a fret or fretwork.

fret ³ American  

[fret] / frɛt /

noun

1. any of the ridges of wood, metal, or string, set across the fingerboard of a guitar, lute, or similar instrument, which help the fingers to stop the strings at the correct points.

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verb (used with object)

fretted, fretting

1. to provide with frets.

fret ¹ British  

/ frɛt /

verb

1. to distress or be distressed; worry

2. to rub or wear away

3. to irritate or be irritated; feel or give annoyance or vexation

4. to eat away or be eaten away by chemical action; corrode

5. (intr) (of a road surface) to become loose so that potholes develop; scab

6. to agitate (water) or (of water) to be agitated

7. (tr) to make by wearing away; erode

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noun

1. a state of irritation or anxiety

2. the result of fretting; corrosion

3. a hole or channel caused by fretting

fret ² British  

/ frɛt /

noun

1. a repetitive geometrical figure, esp one used as an ornamental border

2. such a pattern made in relief and with numerous small openings; fretwork

3. heraldry a charge on a shield consisting of a mascle crossed by a saltire

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verb

1. (tr) to ornament with fret or fretwork

fret ³ British  

/ frɛt /

noun

1. any of several small metal bars set across the fingerboard of a musical instrument of the lute, guitar, or viol family at various points along its length so as to produce the desired notes when the strings are stopped by the fingers

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fret ⁴ British  

/ frɛt /

noun

1. short for sea fret

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Other Word Forms

• fretter
  noun
• fretless
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of fret¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English freten, freoten, vreten “to eat up, consume greedily, devour,” Old English fretan “to eat up, consume, devour”; cognate with Old Saxon fretan, Gothic fra-itan, Old High German frezzan ( German fressen “to feed, devour”), from Germanic fra-etan, equivalent to fra- for- ( def. ) + etan eat ( def. )

Origin of fret²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English fret, frette, probably from Old French frete “trelliswork,” possibly from a Germanic source; compare Old English frættewian, frætwian, fretwian “to adorn, embroider, trim”

Origin of fret³

First recorded in 1490–1500; origin uncertain

Explanation

When you fret, you worry so much about something that it eats away at you. Many people fret about taking standardized tests, but really, they're nothing to sweat. Fret comes from the Old English word freton which means to devour like an animal. When you fret over something, it consumes your thoughts. If you tell your mother to not fret about you while you're at a sleepover camp, you're telling her to not worry about you too much. Sometimes it means to be agitated though. When you're waiting for the results of an exam, you might fret and wring your hands. In a totally unrelated meaning, a guitar player calls the raised lines on the neck of the guitar that help him play correctly frets.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fret fretted fretting

Some investors had begun to fret about a potential near-term supply glut as oil trapped in ships in the Gulf started to hit markets in Asia and Europe.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

Alphabet stock’s decline in June comes as investors fret about higher interest rates and hyperscalers’ aggressive AI spending plans.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

They fret about what all this looks like.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

If you’re like me and are constantly falling victim to brown bananas, fret not.

From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026

It seems humorous to me sometimes that I fret over soil and weather and such.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

Since then, prime ministers have fretted about the political optics of making repairs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

Investors have fretted about how long so-called hyperscalers such as Meta and Microsoft can maintain their aggressive data-center spending.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

“The ballroom is literally an imposition between two branches of our government,” the architect David Scott Parker, who’s on the board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, fretted to the Times.

From Slate ● May 18, 2026

Steyer’s work began at 5 a.m. in the office and he seldom took days off — he fretted he wouldn’t have time for a honeymoon.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

After everything he’d built, planned, fought for, fretted over, dreamed of, this was the summation of his life: one disappointing son and two suitcases.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

“All day, all the time, as if they’re players fretting and strutting on some invisible stage.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

"Now I'm just fretting helplessly, there is nothing I can do."

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

Spike Lee’s masterpiece was met with hand-wringing when it arrived in theaters 37 summers ago, with white critics fretting how “urban audiences” would react to its shocking ending of brutality and angry protest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

The market is also fretting that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates more than once in 2026 to combat a flare-up in inflation.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

Hadn’t I been lying awake nights, fretting over the very same thing?

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

Related Words

• agonize
• bother
• brood
• carp
• chafe
• fume
• fuss
• grieve