Fretful
['fretfʊl;-f(ə)l] or ['frɛtfəl]
Definition
(a.) Disposed to fret; ill-humored; peevish; angry; in a state of vexation; as, a fretful temper.
Checked by Amy
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Peevish, petulant, touchy, testy, snappish, waspish, pettish, splenetic, spleeny, captious, irritable, ill-humored.
Checker: Zelig
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Irritable, fractious, peevish, impatient, petulant, waspish
ANT:Patient, forbearing, contented, meek, resigned, unmurmuring
Typed by Lisa
Examples
- I don't know what you DO mean, said Mrs. Peniston, with a frightened quiver in her small fretful voice. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Some sense of the grimly-ludicrous moved me to a fretful laugh, as I replied, I have looked over it. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- The gleaming blondness of his strange, imminent being put the father into a fever of fretful irritation. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- If only Birkin would form a close and abiding connection with her, she would be safe during this fretful voyage of life. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Those who have used such preparations freely, know that a child usually becomes fretful and irritable between doses, and can be quieted only by larger and more frequent supplies. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- This both I and Mr. Dundas took pains to impress on his mind; but the peevish, fretful creature refused to hear reason. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- You, who had seen all the fretful selfishness of my latter days; who had known all the murmurings of my heart! Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- I am quite a fretful porcupine. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- He was so very fretful and exasperated. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- He absolutely whined and whimpered at last like a fretful child. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Why, good gracious me, Miss Summerson, she returned, justifying herself in a fretful but not angry manner, how can it be otherwise? Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
Typed by Lisa