fretful
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- fretfully adverb
- fretfulness noun
- unfretful adjective
- unfretfully adverb
Etymology
Origin of fretful
Explanation
Someone who's fretful can't relax. You might be fretful — upset and fidgety — if you're waiting to hear whether or not you've been accepted into a competitive summer music program. You may be fretful because you're worried about a friend, you're waiting for news, you're incredibly irritated with your little brother, or simply because you're an anxious and restless person. The word at the heart of fretful is fret, a verb meaning "worry" which is rooted in the Old English fretan, "to eat or devour." From this, fret grew to mean "being eaten away by worry."
Vocabulary lists containing fretful
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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"Sorry, Wrong Number" by Lucille Fletcher
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Be fretful, be anxious, be a quivering wreck about what might be in America, but keep perspective, too.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
He was a fretful perfectionist who would endlessly rehearse; Anne was naturally funny; she flowed.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 24, 2025
Kounalakis would very much like to be California’s next governor, and her fretful appearance in the 30-second spot is very much a part of her strategy to make that happen in November 2026.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2024
“People are fretful of bringing children to the museum,” she said.
From New York Times • Apr. 25, 2023
A woman hushed a fretful baby with a pacifier.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
