fret
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent, or the like.
Fretting about the lost ring isn't going to help.
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to cause corrosion; gnaw into something.
acids that fret at the strongest metals.
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to make a way by gnawing, corrosion, wearing away, etc..
The river frets at its banks until a new channel is formed.
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to become eaten, worn, or corroded (often followed byaway ).
Limestone slowly frets away under pounding by the wind and rain.
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to move in agitation or commotion, as water.
water fretting over the stones of a brook.
verb (used with object)
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to torment; irritate, annoy, or vex.
You mustn't fret yourself about that.
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to wear away or consume by gnawing, friction, rust, corrosives, etc..
the ocean fretting its shores.
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to form or make by wearing away a substance.
The river had fretted an underground passage.
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to agitate (water).
Strong winds were fretting the channel.
noun
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an interlaced, angular design; fretwork.
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an angular design of bands within a border.
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Heraldry. a charge composed of two diagonal strips interlacing with and crossing at the center of a mascle.
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a piece of decoratively pierced work placed in a clock case to deaden the sound of the mechanism.
verb (used with object)
noun
verb (used with object)
verb
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to distress or be distressed; worry
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to rub or wear away
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to irritate or be irritated; feel or give annoyance or vexation
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to eat away or be eaten away by chemical action; corrode
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(intr) (of a road surface) to become loose so that potholes develop; scab
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to agitate (water) or (of water) to be agitated
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(tr) to make by wearing away; erode
noun
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a state of irritation or anxiety
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the result of fretting; corrosion
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a hole or channel caused by fretting
noun
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a repetitive geometrical figure, esp one used as an ornamental border
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such a pattern made in relief and with numerous small openings; fretwork
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heraldry a charge on a shield consisting of a mascle crossed by a saltire
verb
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
- fretless adjective
- fretter noun
Etymology
Origin of fret1
First recorded before 900; Middle English freten, freoten, vreten “to eat up, consume greedily, devour,” Old English fretan “to eat up, consume, devour”; cognate with Old Saxon fretan, Gothic fra-itan, Old High German frezzan ( German fressen “to feed, devour”), from Germanic fra-etan, equivalent to fra- for- ( def. ) + etan eat ( def. )
Origin of fret2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English fret, frette, probably from Old French frete “trelliswork,” possibly from a Germanic source; compare Old English frættewian, frætwian, fretwian “to adorn, embroider, trim”
Origin of fret3
First recorded in 1490–1500; origin uncertain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Discovery board members who had fretted for weeks that they weren’t sure Ellison would sign on the dotted line, according to two people close to the auction who were not authorized to comment.
From Los Angeles Times
Investors have spent the first couple of months of 2026 fretting about how AI could upend industries such as software, as well as Big Tech companies’ aggressive capital spending plans.
From Barron's
This ought to be a stirring message, especially to those in Congress and the press who fret about the end of democracy.
If you’re suffering from the persevering cold and in need of some cooking inspiration, fret not.
From Salon
Scientists had not yet discovered vitamins, so families did not fret about dietary “balance,” and there seems to have been little or none of the parental wheedling common today.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
