MEANING
1. To worry restlessly, often over an ongoing concern or something beyond one’s control.
2. A raised strip on a stringed instrument’s fingerboard used to mark or control where a string is stopped.
3. A decorative pattern of interlocking or repeated angular lines, often forming a continuous border.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- fret over details
- fret about money
- fret needlessly
On the page
She fretted over the unanswered letter all afternoon.
He told himself not to fret about a decision already made.
The parents fretted while the bus was delayed.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- fret
- Past tense
- fretted
- Past participle
- fretted
- Present participle
- fretting
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- fret
- Present continuous
- am/is/are fretting
- Present perfect
- have/has fretted
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been fretting
- Past
- fretted
- Past continuous
- was/were fretting
- Past perfect
- had fretted
- Past perfect continuous
- had been fretting
- Future
- will fret
- Future continuous
- will be fretting
- Future perfect
- will have fretted
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been fretting
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: fear. Forms: fret; frets; fretted; fretted; fretting Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: frets.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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