Synonyms for fretfulness
Most common
All synonyms
Noun
1. Irritability
irritability, petulance, peevishness, chagrin, fussiness, choler, crossness
Other
Definitions
- n. 1
The quality of being fretful, or prone to fretting; an emotional state combining restlessness, anxiety and irritability.
Forms
- Plural
- fretfulnesses → irritabilities, petulances, peevishnesses, chagrins…
Choose the right word
Impatience, fretfulness, irritation, peevishness, pettishness, petulance, and vexation express the slighter forms of anger. Fretfulness, pettishness, and peevishness are chronic states finding in any petty matter an occasion for their exercise.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- chagrin He often hastens physical intimacy, much to the chagrin of his dates.
- anxiety I'm having an anxiety attack and I don't know why.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| fretfulness | rising | |
| chagrin | rising | |
| irritability | rising | |
| petulance | rising | |
| peevishness | rising | |
| anxiety | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 6 letters
- choler
- 7 letters
- anxiety4, chagrin2
- 9 letters
- petulance3, fussiness, crossness
- 11 letters
- peevishness
- 12 letters
- irritability6
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (anxiety4 = 4 syllables).