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
But that doesn’t mean viewers won’t be increasingly exasperated by the ways the screenplay forces Knightley’s character into a clumsy, fretful investigation.
—
The New York Times, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
Investors are fretful heading into the August payrolls report.
—Sarah Min, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2025
Despite the fretful retreat staged by most House Democrats, preliminary polling shows significant public support for Trump’s impeachment.
—Chris Lehmann, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
Suddenly the Toronto crowd’s sound turned from festive to fretful.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for fretful
The New York Times, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
Investors are fretful heading into the August payrolls report.
—Sarah Min, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2025
Despite the fretful retreat staged by most House Democrats, preliminary polling shows significant public support for Trump’s impeachment.
—Chris Lehmann, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
Suddenly the Toronto crowd’s sound turned from festive to fretful.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for fretful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fretful
Adjective
-
Even Adam’s irritable female boss, Suzie (Sasheer Zamata), hides under a people-pleasing mask.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
3 June 2026
-
That’s because the Moon is at odds with Mars today and everyone is irritable.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
7 May 2026
Adjective
-
Unlike the coolly impassive Pop artists, the Who weren’t afraid to get personal, or to let their art echo the anxious, kinky, maladjusted yammering in their own heads.—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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In Rio, the runner was an anxious up-and-comer, the youngest American track-and-field Olympian since 1972.—
Katie Abel,
Footwear News,
1 June 2026
Adjective
-
Emmanuel co-stars as Detective Doran, an officer assigned to shadow Grimes, with Greenwood playing Henry Monroe, the therapist Grimes is mandated to see, whose sessions begin to reveal the detective’s troubled past.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
1 June 2026
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The discoveries, announced Sunday, are part of the Egyptian government’s efforts to boost the country’s tourism industry and bring cash to the troubled economy.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 June 2026
Adjective
-
Kyoto, Japan — Nancy Higginbotham wasn’t worried when her 20-year-old son got on a train by himself during their family vacation in Japan.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
4 June 2026
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Farmers are now worried the beef industry could be on the fritz for a while.—
Justin Klawans,
TheWeek,
4 June 2026
Adjective
-
If a bear approaches in a defensive manner (appears agitated and/or charges), stop.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 May 2026
-
Trump loudly agitated for her release.—
Mark Barabak,
Mercury News,
28 May 2026
Adjective
-
Spinella shucks off sentimentality, always showing us Con’s offhand humor and sometimes nervous, defensive rambling.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
3 June 2026
-
Companies start to get nervous when the percentage of shareholders blessing their pay plans dips well below the average, which is slightly above 90%, said Elizabeth Bieber, partner at the law firm Freshfields who leads shareholder engagement.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
Haymon was much less apprehensive of expressing her opinions, particularly her preference for Gascon’s policies.—
Rafael Perez,
Daily News,
15 May 2026
-
There are even Allure editors who remain apprehensive.—
Tori Crowther,
Allure,
22 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Judith Lightfoot Clarke and Greg Wood carry themselves with peevish authority as the Butley, oozing entitlement.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
28 Apr. 2026
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The childishness of his expressions infantilized a genuinely vicious regime, painting it as more peevish than petrifying.—
Fintan O’Toole,
The New York Review of Books,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fretful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fretful. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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