noun
- Agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or some other cause; a rippling on the surface of water.
- Agitation of the mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation.
- Herpes; tetter.
- (in the plural) The worn sides of riverbanks, where ores or stones containing them accumulate after being washed down from higher ground, which thus indicate to miners the locality of veins of ore.
verb
- Especially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat.
- To chafe or irritate; to worry.
- To make rough, to agitate or disturb; to cause to ripple.
- In the form fret out: to squander, to waste.
- To gnaw; to consume, to eat away.
- To be chafed or irritated; to be angry or vexed; to utter peevish expressions through irritation or worry.
- To be worn away; to chafe; to fray.
- To be anxious, to worry.
- To be agitated; to rankle; to be in violent commotion.
- To have secondary fermentation (fermentation occurring after the conversion of sugar to alcohol in beers and wine) take place.
Pronunciation
About this word
Fret is a 2-meaning word in English. Shorter words have fewer anagrams.
This page shows the definition of fret along with every other word you can make from its letters. Click the link above to see all anagrams and shorter words formed from the same set of letters.
How to use this page
Every word in our dictionary has its own page like this one. Here you can:
- Read the definition — see what the word means, how it is used in context, and which part of speech it belongs to.
- Hear the pronunciation — when an audio recording is available, press the play button to hear the word spoken aloud.
- Browse synonyms — see related words that share a similar meaning, useful for expanding your vocabulary.
- Find anagrams — click "Other words from fret's letters" to see every word you can spell using the same letters.
Words in word games
If you are playing a word game, knowing whether a word is valid is essential. Fret appears in our 370,000-word English dictionary, which includes most words accepted in Scrabble and Words With Friends. However, always check the official word list for the specific game you are playing, as different games use different dictionaries.
Scrabble
In Scrabble, the valid word lists are the Official Tournament and Club Word List (OTCWL/NWL) for North America and the Collins Scrabble Words (CSW) for international play. Our dictionary covers most words in both lists, but some proper nouns, abbreviations, and offensive terms may differ.
Wordle
Wordle uses its own curated word list that is smaller than the full Scrabble dictionary. If Fret appears here, it may or may not be a valid Wordle answer — but it is a real English word regardless.
Try it interactively
Open Fret in the interactive unscrambler →
More word resources
Explore our guides for more word game help:
Or see all our guides on the blog index.