Fretless

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A stringed instrument without frets on the fingerboard.

    "Read's creations have covered just about all of bass-dom, from vintage-style 4-strings to 32-position fretlesses to 25-fret 8-strings tuned F♯BEADGCF."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of a stringed instrument, not having frets on the fingerboard. not-comparable
  2. 2
    Without worries. not-comparable

    "You would live longer and happier if you would only be quiet and fretless."

Example

More examples

"How hard is it to play a fretless banjo?"

Etymology

From fret + -less.

Related phrases

stringed instrument

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.