Word of the Day
: October 9, 2021fret
playWhat It Means
Fret means "to become worried or concerned."
// The director fretted over every detail of the show's opening night performance.
fret in Context
"Notre Dame had four players who needed surgery this week. … It's a troubling start that every coach frets about. — Mike Hutton, Sports Illustrated, 9 Sept. 2021
Did You Know?
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."
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Quiz
What 5-letter word beginning with "a" and ending with "f" means "emotionally distant"?
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