Synonyms of frets

frets 1 of 2

noun

plural of fret

as in panics

a state of nervous or irritated concern

one of my customers always gets into a fret if I'm so much as 15 minutes late delivering his newspaper

Synonyms & Similar Words

• panics
• fusses
• huffs
• sweats
• dithers
• twitters
• tizzies
• swelters
• flusters
• lathers
• pothers
• stews
• swivets
• alarms
• agitations
• piques
• dudgeons
• hysterias
• deliriums
• furors
• hand-wringings
• nervous breakdowns
• distractions
• ados
• bothers
• uproars

frets

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of fret

1

as in erodes

to consume or wear away gradually

over the span of thousands of years, the annual spring runoff fretted the rock, forming a deep channel

Synonyms & Similar Words

• erodes
• eats
• corrodes
• gnaws
• bites (at)
• destroys
• decomposes
• nibbles
• disintegrates
• dissolves
• ruins
• wastes
• wrecks
• breaks down
• breaks up
• decimates
• devastates

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• restores
• revives
• recreates
• regenerates
• renews
• refreshes
• rejuvenates
• freshens
• revitalizes
• refreshens

2

as in wears

to damage or diminish by continued friction

don't let the girth fret the horse's belly or you won't be able to ride him

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wears
• erodes
• frays
• rubs
• chafes
• abrades
• reduces
• shaves
• scrapes
• rasps
• erases
• bites
• eats
• galls
• sharpens
• corrades
• files
• frazzles
• gnaws
• scuffs
• grates
• sandpapers
• scours
• chews
• corrodes
• grazes
• disintegrates
• sandblasts
• decomposes
• nibbles
• wears out
• grinds
• dissolves
• wipes (away)
• whets
• hones
• rubs out
• breaks up
• breaks down

3

as in worries

to experience concern or anxiety

don't fret over whether it will be sunny tomorrow, as there's nothing we can do about it

Synonyms & Similar Words

• worries
• fears
• stresses
• troubles
• fusses
• bothers
• stews
• sweats
• agonizes
• sweats blood
• longs
• gives a hang
• pines
• yearns
• despairs
• chafes

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• accepts
• takes
• sustains
• tolerates
• endures
• bears
• sticks out
• abides
• stomachs

4

as in irritates

to make sore by continued rubbing

the stiff, starchy collar was fretting my neck, and I couldn't wait to change out of that costume

Synonyms & Similar Words

• irritates
• scratches
• scrapes
• excoriates
• chafes
• galls
• abrades
• burns
• grazes
• peels
• inflames
• skins
• flays

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of frets

Noun

This machine will actually press the strings down between frets and pluck those strings in time, like a human guitarist. — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 9 Aug. 2026

The viol family included larger instruments known as viols da gamba, which were played between the legs and often featured frets similar to those found on guitars. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 July 2026

The Nasdaq Composite Index has slipped nearly 3% this week as Wall Street frets over whether the trillions of dollars going into artificial intelligence will deliver the revenue and profit growth needed to justify that exorbitant cost. — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 25 June 2026

Retail businesses celebrate While the central bank frets, some businesses are already preparing for these workers to spend their windfalls at their stores. — Lim Hui Jie,blair Baek, CNBC, 20 June 2026

There’s only six strings and what, 20 frets? — Charles Moss, SPIN, 9 June 2026

Naturally, Elsa frets over the situation, but their parents, preoccupied with their own divorced lives, reckon otherwise. — Lé Baltar, IndieWire, 16 May 2026

This mandolin is quite different from my flat-back, the strings closer together, the arm shorter, the frets more tightly spaced. — Tim Parks, New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2026

Melbourne cafe owner Michael Hannah looks over the half-empty lunchtime tables and frets how much worse things will be when the state government enshrines a world-first right to work-from-home later this year. — Joe Flynn, Bloomberg, 1 Apr. 2026

Verb

As the industry frets about consolidation, the slow decline of entertainment on broadcast TV in favor of live sports is yet another way Hollywood’s creative class is getting squeezed. — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 14 Aug. 2026

Kate, for her part, frets that her grieving husband is lacking male companionship. — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 15 June 2026

Baelor’s brother, Maekar — who actually delivered the killing blow — also frets over how Duncan has changed the course of history. — Noel Murray, Vulture, 23 Feb. 2026

Every generation finds new ways to parent, and every generation frets about it. — Russell Shaw, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2025