FRETFUL Synonyms: 210 Similar and Opposite Words

fretful

adjective

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

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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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fretful

Adjective

But Maguire, now 43, became sad and irritable, and didn’t want to be around his newborn.

— Keith Wagstaff, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2026
Additionally, Owens' youngest child, Titus, who was just a toddler when his mother died, was confused, irritable and inconsolable in the weeks after her death, Dias shared.

— Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 2 June 2026