Illustration of fret
- fret 2
fretted; fretting
1
: to cause to suffer emotional strain : vex
Don't you fret yourself about me.—J. C. Powys
2
: to pass (time) in fretting
… a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage …—William Shakespeare
3
1
a
: to become vexed or worried
… fretting over the high cost of feeding their families …—Vance Packard
b
of running water
: to become agitated
a brook fretting over rocks
2
a
: to eat into something
b
: to affect something as if by gnawing or biting : grate
The … urgent voice fretted at his nerves.—Graham Greene
3
b
: chafe
His back where the harness rubbed began to fret.
c
1
a
: the action of wearing away : erosion
b
: a worn or eroded spot
2
: an agitation of mind : irritation
fretted; fretting
1
a
: to decorate with interlaced designs
b
: to form a pattern upon
2
: to enrich with embossed or pierced carved patterns
1
: an ornamental network
especially
: a medieval metallic or jeweled net for a woman's headdress
2
: an ornament or ornamental work often in relief consisting of small straight bars intersecting one another in right or oblique angles
: one of a series of ridges fixed across the fingerboard of a stringed musical instrument (such as a guitar)
fretless
adjective
fretted
adjective
Did you know?
Fret and Eating
Fret not about being unfamiliar with the history of the verb fret; we’ve got something for you to chew on. While fretting today usually involves a concern that is figuratively eating at someone, fret has older senses that apply to literal eating. Fret comes from the Old English verb fretan, “to devour,” which shares an ancestor with another verb, etan, the ancestor of eat. In centuries past, animals—or monsters, in the case of Grendel—were said to fret, as were substances that corrode, or eat away, at other substances. But it wasn’t long before fret was also applied to emotional experiences, as when someone frets over an all-consuming thought or trouble. While fret still carries the meanings of “to corrode,” “to fray,” and “to chafe,” among others, one is most likely to encounter its more angsty sense of “to worry or be concerned.”
Cite this Entry
“Fret.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fret. Accessed 31 Jul. 2026.
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