Synonyms of fretful

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.

Related Words

• irritable
• anxious
• nervous
• worried
• troubled
• peevish
• restless
• querulous
• uneasy
• snappish
• petulant
• agitated
• irascible
• captious
• pettish
• heated
• grouchy
• grumpy
• apprehensive
• testy
• cantankerous
• dyspeptic
• bilious
• splenetic
• crabby
• ornery
• disagreeable
• disturbed
• choleric
• crotchety
• restive
• cranky
• waspish
• feisty
• belligerent
• surly
• curmudgeonly
• sullen
• freaked
• pugnacious
• tetchy
• fractious
• wayward
• sulky
• warlike
• quarrelsome
• snarly
• raspy
• bellicose
• combative
• snarky
• snippy
• truculent
• aggressive
• ill-tempered
• passionate
• short-tempered
• balky
• cross
• sensitive
• excited
• pouty
• stuffy
• vexed
• contentious
• obsessed
• disputatious
• ill-humored
• huffy
• militant
• fretting
• ill-natured
• hesitant
• perverse
• fiery
• argumentative
• prickly
• touchy
• bearish
• cross-grained
• quick-tempered
• tense
• distraught
• ratty
• scrappy
• upset
• contrary
• snippety
• gladiatorial
• short
• hectic
• overwrought
• snappy
• feverish
• thin-skinned
• off-color
• high-strung
• hyperactive
• uptight
• frenzied
• rude
• unquiet
• foreboding
• perturbed
• overactive
• disquieted
• jittery
• aggrieved
• out of sorts
• hot-blooded
• out of humor
• insecure
• jumpy
• distressed
• antsy
• queasy
• nervy
• fidgety
• flustered
• misgiving
• concerned
• preoccupied
• overexcited
• bothered
• stewing
• goosey
• dithery
• unnerved
• ill at ease
• edgy
• wired
• unstrung
• freaked-out
• shook-up
• hyperexcited
• aquiver
• fluttery
• skittish
• flighty
• aflutter
• atwitter
• hyped-up
• hinky
• undone
• spooky
• afire
• het up
• atingle
• qualmish
• on pins and needles
• in a lather
• hung up
• qualmy
• on tenterhooks
• twittered
• hypertense
• on edge
• keyed up

Dissimilar Words

• amiable
• affable
• friendly
• genial
• gregarious
• sweet
• companionable
• sociable
• cordial
• agreeable
• good-natured
• outgoing
• extroverted
• carefree
• well-disposed
• easygoing
• relaxed
• patient
• uncomplaining
• stoic
• tolerant
• forbearing
• confident
• long-suffering
• good-tempered
• sure
• understanding
• obliging
• calm
• controlled
• happy-go-lucky
• collected
• composed
• easy
• placid
• nerveless
• serene
• tranquil
• undisturbed
• untroubled
• unperturbed
• unworried
• self-assured
• cool
• self-confident
• unshaken
• coolheaded
• self-controlled

Example Sentences

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