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
As Queenie, navigating empty relationships and professional disappointments on a journey from self-sabotage to self-worth, Brown makes a whole person from a variety of attitudes — hopeful, hopeless, hungover, exuberant, fretful, thoughtful.
—
Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2024
Too many young people are anxious, fretful and socially isolated.
—Sarah Lent, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024
Her father, a renowned music educator as well as a composer and conductor, was a conspicuous voice urging fretful Americans not to dismiss the music but to listen to what the songs had to say.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Nov. 2024
There’s naïve Jill (Nicola Turner and then, in adulthood, Helena Wilson), excitable Ruby (Sophia Ally and Ophelia Lovibond), and fretful Gloria (Nancy Allsop and Leanne Best); and then—played by Lara McDonnell as a teen and by Donnelly in a pointed piece of double-casting as an adult—there’s Joan.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for fretful
Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2024
Too many young people are anxious, fretful and socially isolated.
—Sarah Lent, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024
Her father, a renowned music educator as well as a composer and conductor, was a conspicuous voice urging fretful Americans not to dismiss the music but to listen to what the songs had to say.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Nov. 2024
There’s naïve Jill (Nicola Turner and then, in adulthood, Helena Wilson), excitable Ruby (Sophia Ally and Ophelia Lovibond), and fretful Gloria (Nancy Allsop and Leanne Best); and then—played by Lara McDonnell as a teen and by Donnelly in a pointed piece of double-casting as an adult—there’s Joan.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for fretful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fretful
Adjective
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Social media makes us into irritable toddlers.—
Jaron Lanier,
The New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2025
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Strong winds also may have North Texans feeling more irritable, which scientists blame on there being too many positive ions in the air.—
Brayden Garcia,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Friday, a government report showed that the U.S. labor market held up better than expected in March despite the federal government’s layoffs, the crackdown on immigrants, and surveys showing that consumers and businesses are increasingly anxious about the economy.—
Josh Fellman,
Quartz,
4 Apr. 2025
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Not that Wendlinger is anxious for her time with the Mustangs to end.—
Michael Osipoff,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Mark Pellington directs the conspiracy thriller about a troubled vet (Gladstone) struggling with addiction who is recruited by a contractor (Cranston) for a covert government plot to assassinate a high-level politician.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
9 Apr. 2025
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Believe it or not, the film's director James Hawes insists Bernthal's secret agent code name was not an intentional call-out to his current run as the late, troubled, elder Berzatto brother Mikey on TV.—
Sydney Bucksbaum,
EW.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The attacks against Musk’s Tesla vehicles have come against the backdrop of an already agitated electorate, who in recent weeks have heckled lawmakers at town halls across the country about the tech billionaire and DOGE.—
Julia Shapero,
The Hill,
21 Mar. 2025
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Children may express anxiety by becoming distant, withdrawn, agitated, upset, or avoiding social contact.8 4.—
Mark Gurarie,
Verywell Health,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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What's more, despite the fact that the majority of parents limit their teen's digital usage, most remain worried that they will be exposed to harms online.—
John W. Dean,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Apr. 2025
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The patient’s toe had been amputated because of an infection causing unbearable pain and Dr Shaik, a neurology resident overseeing her care was worried.—
Hansa Bhargava,
Forbes.com,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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This causes folks to be nervous, which triggers a lack in consumer confidence.—
Gary Franks,
Hartford Courant,
21 Mar. 2025
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The unemployment rate is pretty low at the moment, but under the hood Americans sure are nervous about the job market.—
Emily Peck,
Axios,
21 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Knights believes Riyadh is apprehensive about the Houthis retaliating with long-range drones and missiles against its infrastructure.—
Nadeen Ebrahim,
CNN Money,
6 Apr. 2025
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In his first season during filming, Brown was a little apprehensive about being in front of the camera at first.—
Vitas Carosella,
Forbes.com,
29 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Rojas’s recollections weren’t peevish—fine work was produced under these conditions.—
Ian Parker,
The New Yorker,
20 Jan. 2025
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The songs are muscular and syncretic as ever, but the normally peevish rapper doesn’t maintain his trolling energy for the full record, settling into a questioning and pensive pace.—
Stephen Kearse,
TIME,
8 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Fretful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fretful. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
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