: state or condition of health, fitness, wholeness, spirit, or form
—often used in the phrase in fine fettle
I proved to her I was in fine fettle by consuming a herculean portion of eggs scrambled with onions and smoked salmon.—
Lawrence Sanders
Lawrence SandersHe stopped practicing or even warming up before tournament rounds in order to spare strain on the risky hip. His golf game was nonetheless in fine fettle—provided he could keep swinging.—Alfred Wright
Alfred Wright
fettled; fettling
ˈfe-tᵊl-iŋ 
ˈfet-liŋ
: to cover or line the hearth of (something, such as a reverberatory furnace) with loose material (such as sand or gravel)
Examples of fettle in a Sentence
Noun
a visit to the relatives on the other side of the state revealed them all to be in fine fettle
Recent Examples on the Web
Phil Hay, New York Times, 20 June 2025
Porto Add Porto to the list of teams who don’t exactly come into the Club World Cup in fine fettle.
—Tim Spiers, New York Times, 11 June 2025
Robert Ross, Robb Report, 21 Mar. 2025
Thankfully, the 2024 Breakout retains the quick-adjust preload control (below) tucked under the seat on the bike’s right side to fettle the otherwise invisible rear suspension.
—William Roberson, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for fettle
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Noun
Canada looked in fine fettle and are well on their way to the knockouts.
—Phil Hay, New York Times, 20 June 2025
Porto Add Porto to the list of teams who don’t exactly come into the Club World Cup in fine fettle.
—Tim Spiers, New York Times, 11 June 2025
Verb
Restoration is a road for the monied faithful, suggesting that buying a great example, already fettled, is the road to XK120 happiness.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 21 Mar. 2025
Thankfully, the 2024 Breakout retains the quick-adjust preload control (below) tucked under the seat on the bike’s right side to fettle the otherwise invisible rear suspension.
—William Roberson, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for fettle
Cite this Entry
“Fettle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fettle. Accessed 14 Jul. 2025.
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