Illustration of fret
- fret 2
fret
1 of 6verb (1)
ˈfret 
fretted; fretting
transitive verb
1
a
: to eat or gnaw into : corrode
also : fray
The acid fretted the metal.
b
: rub, chafe
The harness strap was fretting the horse.
c
: to make by wearing away a substance
the stream fretted a channel
2
: to cause to suffer emotional strain : vex
don't you fret yourself about me
J. C. Powys
J. C. Powys3
: to pass (time) in fretting
a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare4
: agitate, ripple
fret the surface of the lake
intransitive verb
1
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
Graham Greene2
a
: wear, corrode
Marble frets away due to the rain.
b
: chafe
His back where the harness rubbed began to fret.
c
: fray sense 1
3
a
: to become vexed or worried
fretting over the high cost of feeding their families Vance Packard
Vance Packard b
of running water : to become agitated
a brook fretting over rocks
fret
2 of 6noun (1)
1
a
: the action of wearing away : erosion
b
: a worn or eroded spot
2
: an agitation of mind : irritation
fret
3 of 6verb (2)
fretted; fretting
transitive verb
1
a
: to decorate with interlaced designs
b
: to form a pattern upon
2
: to enrich with embossed or pierced carved patterns
fret
4 of 6noun (2)
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
fret
5 of 6noun (3)
: one of a series of ridges fixed across the fingerboard of a stringed musical instrument (such as a guitar)
fretless adjective
fretted adjective
fret
6 of 6verb (3)
fretted; fretting
transitive verb
: to press (the strings of a stringed instrument) against the frets
Did you know?
Fret and Eating
The meat-and-potatoes meaning of fret is "to eat." The verb is used literally, as in "Moths fretted the clothing," but more often figuratively to describe actions that corrode or wear away. A river "frets away" at its banks, or something might be said to be "fretted out" with time or age. Fret also applies to emotional experiences so that something that "eats away at someone" is "fretting the heart or mind."
Synonyms
Verb (1)
- bite (at)
- corrode
- eat
- erode
- gnaw
- nibble
Noun (1)
- dither
- fluster
- fuss
- huff
- lather
- pother
- stew
- sweat
- swelter
- swivet
- tizzy
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Word History
Etymology
Verb (1) and Noun (1)
Middle English, to devour, fret, from Old English fretan to devour; akin to Old High German frezzan to devour, ezzan to eat — more at eat
Verb (2)
Middle English, back-formation from fret, fretted adorned, interwoven, from Anglo-French fretté, past participle of fretter to tie, probably from Vulgar Latin *firmitare, from Latin firmus firm
Noun (3)
perhaps from Middle French frete ferrule, from freter
First Known Use
Verb (1)
12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a
Noun (1)
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb (2)
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Noun (2)
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun (3)
circa 1500, in the meaning defined above
Verb (3)
1602, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
fret 1 of 2
verb
ˈfret
fretted; fretting
: worry entry 1 sense 1
… it was a thing which could not be helped, so I seldom fretted about it … Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Courtfret
2 of 2noun
: an irritated or worried state
fret 1 of 2
verb
1
as in to gnaw
to consume or wear away gradually over the span of thousands of years, the annual spring runoff fretted the rock, forming a deep channel Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- gnaw
- eat
- erode
- corrode
- nibble
- ruin
- waste
- bite (at)
- destroy
- wreck
- disintegrate
- decompose
- decimate
- dissolve
- devastate
- break down
- break up
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- renew
- recreate
- refresh
- restore
- revive
- rejuvenate
- regenerate
- refreshen
- freshen
- revitalize
2
as in to wear
to damage or diminish by continued friction don't let the girth fret the horse's belly or you won't be able to ride him Synonyms & Similar Words
- wear
- fray
- erode
- rub
- chafe
- abrade
- frazzle
- reduce
- gall
- rasp
- bite
- gnaw
- scrape
- corrade
- erase
- sharpen
- shave
- eat
- file
- scuff
- scour
- nibble
- graze
- sandpaper
- chew
- corrode
- sandblast
- grate
- grind
- rub out
- wear out
- whet
- disintegrate
- decompose
- hone
- dissolve
- wipe (away)
- break down
- break up
3
as in to worry
to experience concern or anxiety don't fret over whether it will be sunny tomorrow, as there's nothing we can do about it Synonyms & Similar Words
- worry
- fear
- stress
- trouble
- bother
- fuss
- stew
- sweat
- care a hang
- agonize
- sweat blood
- long
- give a hang
- pine
- yearn
- despair
- chafe
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- accept
- endure
- tolerate
- take
- abide
- bear
- sustain
- stomach
- stick out
4
as in to irritate
to make sore by continued rubbing the stiff, starchy collar was fretting my neck, and I couldn't wait to change out of that costume Synonyms & Similar Words
- irritate
- scratch
- chafe
- excoriate
- scrape
- abrade
- gall
- graze
- burn
- skin
- peel
- inflame
- flay
- enflame
fret
2 of 2noun
as in panic
a state of nervous or irritated concern one of my customers always gets into a fret if I'm so much as 15 minutes late delivering his newspaper Synonyms & Similar Words
- panic
- fuss
- huff
- sweat
- dither
- tizzy
- pother
- fluster
- swelter
- swivet
- lather
- bother
- twitter
- stew
- ado
- dudgeon
- hand-wringing
- pique
- hysteria
- alarm
- agitation
- alarum
- nervous breakdown
- delirium
- furor
- distraction
- uproar