FRETTED Synonyms: 94 Similar and Opposite Words

fretted

verb

past tense of fret

as in eroded

to consume or wear away gradually over the span of thousands of years, the annual spring runoff fretted the rock, forming a deep channel

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as in wore

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

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as in worried

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

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as in irritated

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

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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 fretted Benchmark oil prices also topped $90 a barrel as investors fretted that efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz were making little headway. — Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 18 Aug. 2026 Meanwhile in England, Queen Victoria fretted about receiving a gemstone obtained in such an unsavory way, and worried about the condition of Duleep. — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 17 Aug. 2026 Other European politicians fretted about national infrastructure and defense, with one comparing the loss of Mythos to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2026 Months ago, businesses fretted over adversaries using AI to attack. — Samantha Subin, CNBC, 1 Aug. 2026 Daniel de Visé Stocks opened lower on July 29, ahead of Federal Reserve action on interest rates, as traders fretted about rising oil prices. — Rachel Barber, USA Today, 29 July 2026 That’s a relief to Hollywood, which fretted that the pandemic had hampered Gen Z from developing a taste for going to the movies. — Kelenna Onukwugha, Christian Science Monitor, 21 July 2026 But the recent action on Anthropic, as well as asking OpenAI to limit its own newest model, comes after experts have fretted for months that Mythos could pose a security risk by giving hackers and other bad actors access to AI capable of finding and exploiting vulnerabilities exceptionally quickly. — Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 27 June 2026 But where some insiders fretted about the social blowback, Jenkins knew the flap was priceless marketing for the brand. — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 24 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fretted

Verb

Phillips-Fein recently talked to CNN about how those ideals have eroded in recent years and why some working- class and poor people embrace the belief that extreme inequality is good for America.

— John Blake, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2026
According to the study, the resulting uplift would have created steep terrain and high ground that could be intensely eroded over long periods.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of eroded

Verb

The singer wore a black hoodie and appeared to be half-covered with a blanket.

— Edward Segarra, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2026
While the bride wore a satin, strapless Danielle Frankel wedding gown for the ceremony, the voluminous, floor-length skirt obscured her shoes on her big day.

— Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of wore

Verb

The British Royal Navy, worried about French ships falling into German hands following their ally’s defeat, sunk the fleet in the port of Mers-el-Kébir, near Oran in Algeria.

— Rakesh Kumar, Fortune, 21 Aug. 2026
Last week, biologists opened pens and freed two birds early, worried they might be killed.

— Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of worried

Verb

But the idea has irritated California’s billionaire class, and some have left the state in protest or threatened to do so.

— Catherine Odom, Miami Herald, 29 June 2026
Hasslers, the researchers found, tended to be people who irritated the study respondents but whom the respondents could not escape.

— Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 15 June 2026

Definition of irritated

Verb

As the latest iteration of her signature red tresses, these braids are just like the songs on her latest studio album, Blue Island—frayed, perfectly tousled, and free-flowing.

— Sidney Madden, VIBE.com, 19 Aug. 2026
Reconstituting the bilateral bond between the two countries, now frayed by more than a year of threats and punitive measures, will not happen overnight.

— Kate Nishimura, Footwear News, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of frayed

Verb

The bear scratched his arm, and the victim tripped and injured his foot while trying to escape, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

— Jon Haworth, ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026
Anastasiia Holubieva scratched her head and looked down to see her hand covered in blood — the work of one of dozens of rockets fired on a recent night during which the Ukrainian capital could only intercept a single missile.

— Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of scratched

Verb

Tragedy, humor and scientific interest rubbed shoulders as Atlanta turned out Thursday night to view the astral spectacle which sent 261 stars streaking across the heavens.

— AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 12 Aug. 2026
Jimmy rubbed beer foam off his mustache, and Kath thought of the drunken Norwegian boatman who sank Fanny’s ship.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Aug. 2026