fret

/fɹɛt/

//fɹɛt// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"fret" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fret” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,362. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,362
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Especially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat.

Corpus desk

Index EN-fret · fret · English

fret · rank #20,362 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,362
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH formative

Nearest frequency peer: formative (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “fret”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “fret” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

fret vs fry
50% similar
fret vs fro
50% similar
fret vs FTE
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for fret
PropertyValue
Headwordfret
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/fɹɛt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#20,362
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “fret”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).fretlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “formative” (#20,361), “flushed” (#20,360), “gastrointestinal” (#20,364). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “fret” is #20,362. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around fret (IPA /fɹɛt/), averb. Corpus frequency is #20,362 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for fret, with forms such as "fert", "ffret", and "frett". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fry", "fro", "FTE", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English frēten (“to eat (at), corrode, destroy, annoy”), from Old English fretan (“to eat up, devour; to fret; to break, burst”), from Proto-West Germanic *fraetan, from Proto-Germanic *fraetaną (“to consume, devour, eat up”), from Proto-Germani… The correct English form is fret, spelled F-R-E-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Especially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat.
  2. 2
    To chafe or irritate; to worry.
  3. 3
    To make rough, to agitate or disturb; to cause to ripple.
  4. 4
    In the form fret out: to squander, to waste.
  5. 5
    To gnaw; to consume, to eat away.
  6. 6
    To mine by agitating or eating away at (ore in the bank of a river).
  7. 7
    To be chafed or irritated; to be angry or vexed; to utter peevish expressions through irritation or worry.
  8. 8
    To be worn away; to chafe; to fray.
  9. 9
    To be anxious, to worry.
  10. 10
    To be agitated; to rankle; to be in violent commotion.
  11. 11
    To have secondary fermentation (fermentation occurring after the conversion of sugar to alcohol in beers and wine) take place.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how fret appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. At the beginning God gaue the dome him ſelfe / That Adam and Eue and all them that ſewed, / Shuld dye down right and dwell in pyne after, / If that they touched a tree and the frute eaten, / Adam afterwarde agaynſt hys defence / freet of that frute, and forſake as it were, / The loue of our lord and his lore bothe, [...]
  2. Their hearts alreadie fretted and cankered at the very roote, for the last disgrace received.

Etymology

From Middle English frēten (“to eat (at), corrode, destroy, annoy”), from Old English fretan (“to eat up, devour; to fret; to break, burst”), from Proto-West Germanic *fraetan, from Proto-Germanic *fraetaną (“to consume, devour, eat up”), from Proto-Germanic *fra- (“for-, prefix meaning ‘completely, fully’”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (“forward, toward”)) + *etaną (“to eat”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”)). The senses meaning “to chafe, rub” could also be due to sound-association with Anglo-Norman *freiter (modern dialectal French fretter), from Vulgar Latin *frictāre, frequentative of Latin fricāre, from fricō (“to chafe, rub”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (“to cut”); compare Old French froter (modern French frotter). The chief difficulty is the lack of evidence of the Old French word. Cognates *Dutch vreten, fretten (“to devour, hog, wolf”) *Low German freten (“to eat up”) *German fressen (“to devour, gobble up, guzzle”) *Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (fraitan, “to devour”) *Swedish fräta (“to eat away, corrode, fret”) *Danish fråse (“to gorge”)

This word in other languages

preocuparse(Español)dévorer(Français)verschlingen(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • fert
  • ffret
  • frett
  • frret
  • frte
  • rfet

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fret - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

fert2ffret1frett1frret1frte2rfet2
Edit distance from "fret"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fret"?
"fret" is spelled F-R-E-T. The IPA pronunciation is /fɹɛt/.
What does "fret" mean?
As a verb, "fret" means: Especially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat.
What words are commonly confused with "fret"?
"fret" is commonly confused with "fry", "fro", "FTE". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fret"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fret" is /fɹɛt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "fret"?
From Middle English frēten (“to eat (at), corrode, destroy, annoy”), from Old English fretan (“to eat up, devour; to fret; to break, burst”), from Proto-West Germanic *fraetan, from Proto-Germanic *fraetaną (“to consume, devour, eat up”), from Pro... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fret", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fern#20,354huts#20,385Cora#20,322cont#20,320

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

evoke6 variantsleans6 variantsAidan6 variantsying6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list