as in irritable
tending towards or characterized by agitation or irritability
They finally lulled the fretful baby to sleep. I kept having fretful thoughts about what would happen if we couldn't pay our bills.
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Recent Examples of fretful
Performance Jones prods the start button and the four-cylinder power plant coughs grumpily into life, then settles to a fretful idle.
—
Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 28 May 2025
Suddenly the Toronto crowd’s sound turned from festive to fretful.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 6 May 2025
Long wait times became a self-fulfilling prophecy In recent weeks, news of the turmoil at Social Security mobilized fretful Americans to telephone or visit the agency, seeding further chaos.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 1 May 2025
At the very least, Washington sought to assure the fretful Parsons that all was not yet lost.
—Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fretful
Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 28 May 2025
Suddenly the Toronto crowd’s sound turned from festive to fretful.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 6 May 2025
Long wait times became a self-fulfilling prophecy In recent weeks, news of the turmoil at Social Security mobilized fretful Americans to telephone or visit the agency, seeding further chaos.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 1 May 2025
At the very least, Washington sought to assure the fretful Parsons that all was not yet lost.
—Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fretful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fretful
Adjective
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Most cases clear up on their own without complications, but parents should contact a doctor if a child cannot keep fluids down, has a high fever lasting more than a few days or seems unusually drowsy or irritable.—
Katia Hetter,
CNN Money,
29 Oct. 2025
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Also known as irritable hip, the condition is due to inflammation of the hip joint lining.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Redirect their attention If your dog is anxious and barking in a panic, your first step is to remove them from the trigger.—
Madeline Gunderson,
USA Today,
2 Nov. 2025
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Late nights and anxious supplications.—
Steve Rushin,
The Atlantic,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Leo went on to become a troubled teen.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
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The hiccup capped a series of communications mishaps that irked employees as the troubled retailer rolled out its first major restructuring in nearly a decade.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Residents of Cranbourne Hall Residential Park, the nearest neighborhood, are worried that the new home will be less private than the four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage.—
Christina Dugan Ramirez,
FOXNews.com,
2 Nov. 2025
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Haseebullah also is worried about the Cybertrucks’ surveillance abilities that the public may not be unaware of, and that the fleet might give Tesla access to police data.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Locked away in an old house in Montana, her increasingly agitated and erratic behavior leaves her companion, Jackson, played by Pattinson, worried and helpless.—
Karla Rodriguez,
Footwear News,
3 Nov. 2025
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In this effective, no-nonsense chiller, a couple – one with an escalating form of parasomnia (a sleep disturbance that leads to fugue-like sleep walking) – seek and don’t get some R&R together and wind up arguing more and getting more agitated as freaky things start to happen.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The dogs' job on marathon day will be to calm race-day jitters at the starting line, where runners can feel overwhelmed or nervous about the trek ahead.—
Kelli Bender,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
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There was a lot of nervous smiling.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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With mass layoffs, many employees are apprehensive about being replaced.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
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The two have been apprehensive advocates for each other over the past two seasons, and this season Stella vowed to go to bat for Mia’s bid for news director.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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While grunge seemed peevish, grim, defeatist, and dour—and extended the kind of us-vs.-them culture most famously centered by the indie rock of the ’80s and ’90s, Oasis was celebratory, communal, and democratic while exploring themes of alienation, escape, and fantasies of triumph.—
Corey Seymour,
Vogue,
28 July 2025
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Thousands of people — displaced by disaster, their past lives gone up in smoke — are hostage to the whims of a peevish president who always puts his feelings first and cares nothing for the greater good.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Los Angeles Times,
22 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fretful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fretful. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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