fretted
Americanadjective
adjective
-
ornamented with angular designs or frets
-
decorated with fretwork
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fretted
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at fret 2, -ed 2
Vocabulary lists containing fretted
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.
"Damon's Odysseus is stubborn, overconfident and sacrilegious, but doesn't bear that much resemblance to the conniving, hypocritical egotist of lore who fretted over his wife's fidelity," she noted.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
“I wasn’t expecting this—all the hustle and bustle,” he fretted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
The delicate tapestry will be transported from its usual home in northern France, but the precise arrangements are being kept secret as heritage experts and artists have fretted that it could be damaged in transit.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 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
I fretted about them, but I was embarrassed by them, too, and ashamed of myself for wearing pearls and living on Park Avenue while my parents were busy keeping warm and finding something to eat.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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.
