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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary
What does "fretful" mean in this context?
Hi,
Could you tell me the meaning of the word fretful in this context?
*The other side of the island looked back, fretful, towards the Australian mainland nearly a hundred miles away, not quite belonging to the land, yet not quite free of it, the highest of a string of under-sea mountains that rose from the ocean floor like teeth along a jagged jaw bone, waiting to devour any innocent ships in their final dash for harbour.* (the sentence is from M. L. Stedman's book called "The Light Between Oceans")
According to the dictionaries, fretful means "irritable", "restless", "anxious and unhappy", and I can't understand why it was used to refer to a side of an island.
Thanks
Could you tell me the meaning of the word fretful in this context?
*The other side of the island looked back, fretful, towards the Australian mainland nearly a hundred miles away, not quite belonging to the land, yet not quite free of it, the highest of a string of under-sea mountains that rose from the ocean floor like teeth along a jagged jaw bone, waiting to devour any innocent ships in their final dash for harbour.* (the sentence is from M. L. Stedman's book called "The Light Between Oceans")
According to the dictionaries, fretful means "irritable", "restless", "anxious and unhappy", and I can't understand why it was used to refer to a side of an island.
Thanks
Top answer
Anonymous According to the dictionaries, fretful means "irritable", "restless", "anxious and unhappy", and I can't understand why it was used to refer to a side of an island. That is the meaning intended. It is a literary device personifying the island.
- Anonymous According to the dictionaries, fretful means "irritable", "restless", "anxious and unhappy", and I can't understand why it was used to refer to a side of an island.
- That is the meaning intended.
- It is a literary device personifying the island.
- The writer is trying to create an uncomfortable mood—the unhappy island neither part of the mainland nor completely separate, the dangerous teeth of the undersea mountains, etc.
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AnonymousAccording to the dictionaries, fretful means "irritable", "restless", "anxious and unhappy", and I can't understand why it was used to refer to a side of an island.That is the meaning intended. It is a literary device personifying the island. The writer is trying to create an uncomfortable mood—the unhappy island neither part of the mainland nor com
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