Past tense of fret
regular verb
The past tense of fret is fretted. The past participle is fretted or fretten.
Forms of fret
| Base form (V1) | fret /fɹɛt/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | fretted /ˈfɹɛtɪd/ |
| Past participle (V3) | fretted /ˈfɹɛtɪd/ fretten |
| Present participle | fretting /ˈfɹɛtɪŋ/ |
| Third person singular | frets /fɹɛts/ |
Fretted and fretten in a sentence
- Critics were vehemently outspoken; but while they fretted about looks, they missed the cleverer points in the design itself.1954 November, Frank Hewitt, “The First Decade of British 4-6-0 Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 752
- Recruits have also fretted that the shares included in their offer letters could quickly become devalued if Mr.2022 April 25, Kate Conger, “Twitter Employees Search for Answers as Musk Deal Takes Shape”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
- The dulcimer and sitar are fretted instruments.From the entry fretted
- High-heeled shoes were at the point of flatlining, industry pundits fretted, teetering on the edge of extinction.2021 June 13, Ruth La Ferla, “High heels are ready to stomp out crocs”, in Philadelphia Tribune, page 3B. From the entry sutorial
- Many fretlesses, especially less expensive models that mimic a fretted counterpart, have fretted-bass nut slots.2008, Jonathan Hererra, “ASK BP”, in Chris Jisi, editor, Bass Player Presents The Fretless Bass, Milwaukee: Backbeat Books, →ISBN. From the entry fretless
Meaning of fret
- verb Especially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat.
- verb To chafe or irritate; to worry.
- verb To make rough, to agitate or disturb; to cause to ripple.
Questions about the past tense of fret
- What is the past tense of fret?
- The past tense of fret is fretted.
- What is the past participle of fret?
- The past participle of fret is fretted or fretten.
- Is fret a regular or irregular verb?
- Fret is a regular verb: its past tense doubles the last letter and adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fret (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of fret.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/fret. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.