fretty nature
- noun
- Archaic
:
naturaleza nerviosa
- Her fretty nature often caused her to overthink even the smallest details.
Examples
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Her fretty nature makes it hard for her to relax.
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People with a fretty nature may find it difficult to relax in unfamiliar situations.
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Despite his fretty nature, he was able to stay focused during the stressful meeting.
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He has a fretty nature that often worries his friends.
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Her fretty nature often leads her to worry about what others think.
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People with a fretty nature tend to feel anxious in new environments.
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His fretty nature makes him overanalyze even simple decisions.
Synonyms
A feeling of being nervous, annoyed, or easily upset
Antonyms
How Anxious
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a nervous or anxious temperament' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'fretty' (anxious/overly concerned) with 'nature' (a person's temperament). The adjective + nature pattern is a common, transparent construction in English (and parallels exist in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Fretty nature may come from the old word fret, which used to mean to eat away or wear away slowly, like rust or a worm on wood. So someone with a fretty nature is pictured as having worry that 'eats away' at them, which is why the phrase means 'nervous' or 'anxious'.