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

Murray says her own experience has made her more understanding when female colleagues seem more tired or irritable than usual, particularly when the behavior is out of character.

— Jo Ann Liguori, Flow Space, 21 Oct. 2026
Could be because for much of the running time, Abrams’ Jay Gardiner is up against what looks like a very large irritable sphincter.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of irritable

Adjective

The director general was attempting to lift the gloom after being beset with questions from anxious employees about job losses, service reductions, and general retrenchment.

— Max Goldbart, Deadline, 24 Oct. 2026
An anxious child Apart from her scribbled notes, scant details are available about Runa’s experience in detention, according to her lawyer Yoshihiro Mukai.

— Hanako Montgomery, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of anxious

Adjective

That sounds appealing, especially to investors nervous about market declines.

— Daniel Kern, Forbes.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Shopkeepers boarded up windows while others opened temporarily and endured a nervous Saturday afternoon, after around 3,000 shops were damaged or looted last weekend.

— ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of nervous

Adjective

Observers say the Student List party's policies remain vague, which has some worried about Serbia's future.

— Chris Massaro, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026
Gas prices were safely below $3 a gallon, and, if anything, the energy market was worried about a supply glut that could keep fuel prices low.

— Matt Egan, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of worried

Adjective

In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of major investments in stadiums and arenas, governments must first prioritise the development of the troubled local sports sector.

— Martin K.N Siele, semafor.com, 30 Oct. 2026
Amy Adams is mesmerizing as our troubled heroine, with Patricia Clarkson as her overbearing mother and Eliza Scanlen as her mysterious half-sister.

— Radhika Seth, Vogue, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of troubled

Adjective

The Lilliputians are as small-minded as their size and conduct querulous, violent debates about which end of an egg to crack (so obviously similar to the theological complexities of Swift’s own day).

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2026
The American right, too, is in a shifting, querulous state.

— Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2026