FRETFUL Synonyms: 210 Similar and Opposite Words

fretful

adjective

Definition of fretful

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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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of fretful The quintessential late-’80s teen, Ryder here plays a fretful mom. — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 27 Nov. 2025 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 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

The symptoms are so delayed that people often blame them on food poisoning, irritable-bowel syndrome, gluten intolerance.

— Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 29 June 2026
Cancer could be affectionate and chatty one moment, and withdrawn and irritable the next, with little to no explanation.

— Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 23 June 2026

Definition of irritable

Adjective

Max is accompanied on his adventures by anxious robot C-3PO AB Sitter, and FX, a magical alien masquerading as a toy who can turn the kid's implausibly impressive sand sculptures into fully functioning robots.

— Richard Edwards, Space.com, 5 July 2026
America’s centennial in 1876 was celebrated with a grand exhibition that projected an image of national unity and inventiveness in the anxious aftermath of civil war and recession.

— The New York Review of Books, The New York Review of Books, 4 July 2026

Definition of anxious

Adjective

The movie follows Gugino as a grieving woman who takes in her troubled nephew, but their lives are upended when an otherworldly entity begins hunting him.

— Scott Huver, PEOPLE, 4 July 2026
Seeking a fresh start, Ellie moves into a house on Delaney Row hoping to leave her troubled past behind, only to discover that her new home is steeped in dark secrets and unsettling mysteries.

— Kait Hanson, Southern Living, 3 July 2026

Definition of troubled

Adjective

The 18-year-old was sent to Adelanto ICE Detention Center in handcuffs, nearly a hundred miles away from his worried family members.

— Itzel Luna, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026
Holmes is worried about old shingles and tiles in construction material that could have asbestos leaking into the water supply.

— Mary Ella Hastings July 8, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 July 2026

Definition of worried

Adjective

People with heat stroke can feel confused, unable to speak properly and agitated.

— Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 2 July 2026
However, first base umpire Todd Tichenor tossed the agitated second baseman after Chisholm spiked his helmet toward home plate.

— Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 29 June 2026

Definition of agitated

Adjective

The looming project was why Purohit was nervous to move her mother into Silverado last winter.

— Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
For most of the last decade the threat argument was a transatlantic one, with a nervous eastern flank pulling against a distracted west.

— Güney Yıldız, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026

Definition of nervous

Adjective

Back at the dilapidated family home, Edgar grows even surlier, lashing into gentle-natured Joe for being an under-achiever compared to his brother and causing Thya to become apprehensive about Ed’s proximity to sharp objects.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026
The report comes with Federal Reserve policymakers expressing mixed feelings about the economy – mostly positive on growth though apprehensive on inflation as earlier fears about weakness in the labor market have eased.

— Jeff Cox, CNBC, 2 July 2026