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
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
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
See All Example Sentences for fretful
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
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
See All Example Sentences for fretful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fretful
Adjective
-
Perhaps through feeling more irritable, more anxious, or wanting to isolate.—
Joy Harden Bradford,
AJC.com,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Had my symptoms maybe been put down to irritable bowel, for example, that could’ve been ongoing and ongoing and ongoing for a much longer period of time.—
Gina Kalsi,
PEOPLE,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The president and his Cabinet members are giving conflicting statements about the impact of the war on gas prices as Americans grow more anxious about the economic toll that the conflict is taking.—
Jared Gans,
The Hill,
21 Apr. 2026
-
This is the move that helps the shyest, most introverted, most socially anxious people relax.—
Henna Pryor,
CNBC,
20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Inside the pack, a walkie-talkie squawked with the voices of staff who needed back-up on the playground, or a bathroom break, or help soothing a troubled student.—
Cory Turner,
NPR,
19 Apr. 2026
-
The series is told through the eyes of Rue Bennett, a troubled drug addict played by Zendaya.—
Katie Mannion,
PEOPLE,
19 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Around that time, Celeste’s family and friends became increasingly worried about her safety and whereabouts, urgently pleading for help from their neighbors, the public and police.—
Andi Babineau,
CNN Money,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Two months into communicating with Niamh, not seeing any money flowing back into her crypto wallets, Holder became worried.—
Anna Schecter,
CBS News,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The health secretary grew defensive and visibly agitated.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
16 Apr. 2026
-
The Health secretary grew defensive and visibly agitated.—
Ali Swenson,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
This project made Cooper nervous for several reasons.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Apr. 2026
-
The players looked worked up at times and the fans are nervous.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
There are even Allure editors who remain apprehensive.—
Tori Crowther,
Allure,
22 Apr. 2026
-
Pressley, a co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, has for months been making the case to Republicans and some apprehensive Democrats to get them on board, according to a senior aide to the congresswoman.—
Caitlin Yilek,
CBS News,
16 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
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
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Fretful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fretful. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
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