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Definition of "fretful" []

  • Inclined to be vexed or troubled; peevish. (adjective)
  • Marked by worry and distress; troublesome: "Of all the fretful stages of human development, adolescence is the most infamous” ( David Gelman). (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "fretful" in a sentence
  • "True, Custer's connection to impotence may have been largely metaphorical, but to a certain fretful portion of the populace it struck home."
  • "We will not say that our dear little Mary rose in this condition next morning, -- for, although she had the headache, she had one of those natures in which, somehow or other, the combative element seems to be left out, so that no one ever knew her to speak a fretful word."
  • ""Who's there!" called a fretful voice from inside."