[syn: fretful, querulous, whiney, whiny]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Fretful \Fret"ful\, a. [See 2d Fret.]
Disposed to fret; ill-humored; peevish; angry; in a state of
vexation; as, a fretful temper. -- Fret"ful*ly, adv. --
Fret"ful*ness, n.
Syn: Peevish; ill-humored; ill-natured; irritable; waspish;
captious; petulant; splenetic; spleeny; passionate;
angry.
Usage: Fretful, Peevish, Cross. These words all
indicate an unamiable working and expression of
temper. Peevish marks more especially the inward
spirit: a peevish man is always ready to find fault.
Fretful points rather to the outward act, and marks a
complaining impatience: sickly children are apt to be
fretful. Crossness is peevishness mingled with
vexation or anger.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
fretful
adj 1: nervous and unable to relax; "a constant fretful stamping
of hooves"; "a restless child" [syn: antsy, fidgety,
fretful, itchy]
2: habitually complaining; "a whiny child" [syn: fretful,
querulous, whiney, whiny]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
93 Moby Thesaurus words for "fretful":
Jeremianic, abrupt, agitated, antsy, antsy-pantsy, anxious,
bad-tempered, breathless, bustling, captious, carping, catty,
caviling, chafing, choleric, complaining, contrary, crabby, cranky,
critical, cross, curt, disagreeable, eager, edgy, excited,
faultfinding, fidgety, fluttering, fluttery, fractious, fretting,
fussing, fussy, grumpy, hasty, hopped-up, howling, huffy,
ill-natured, ill-tempered, impatient, impetuous, in a lather,
in a stew, in a sweat, irascible, irritable, jumpy, lamentive,
moanful, moody, mournful, nagging, naggy, on edge, peevish,
perverse, pettish, petulant, plaintive, plangent, puling,
querulous, resentful, restive, restless, short, short-tempered,
shrewish, snappish, sorrowful, splenetic, squirming, squirmy,
sulky, testy, tetchy, touchy, turbulent, ululant, uneasy,
unpatient, unquiet, unsettled, vexed, vixenish, vixenly, wailful,
waspish, whimpering, whining, whiny