fretful
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
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.
Investors are getting more fretful about whether there will be enough power demand to go around.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Oliver is used to hospitals, but is fretful, and wriggles as the research nurse slowly injects the treatment, about a cup full, into a catheter in his chest.
From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2025
Hoover and his aides became progressively more fretful about the settlement at Anacostia Flats, especially when its organizers began to talk about making it permanent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2024
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
His new, hip hair says I got this, but his fretful face gives away the fact that the whole deal is crashing and burning.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
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.
