fractious
Americanadjective
-
irritable
-
unruly
Usage
Fractious is sometimes wrongly used where factious is meant: this factious (not fractious ) dispute has split the party still further
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of fractious
First recorded in 1715–25; fracti(on) + -ous
Explanation
If you're prone to picking fights, making snarky comments, and being frustratingly stubborn, you're fractious. And odds are you're not invited to too many parties. Someone who is fractious is cranky, rebellious and inclined to cause problems. Tempers and children are commonly described as such. In To Kill A Mockingbird, author Harper Lee uses the word to describe the trouble-making Calpurnia: "She had always been too hard on me, she had at last seen the error of her fractious ways, she was sorry and too stubborn to say so."
Vocabulary lists containing fractious
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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To Kill a Mockingbird
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fractious geopolitics have been front of mind for global investors ever since the pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine early last year.
From Reuters • Jun. 26, 2023
Fractious disputes about scones rage on: Do you say “skon” or “skohn”? Is it acceptable to serve fruit scones at a cream tea, or only plain ones?
From New York Times • Mar. 22, 2023
Fractious and fractured, a stop-start affair that Scotland dominated but struggled to take advantage of until Russell - who else - grubbered precisely for Redpath to run on and score his first international try.
From BBC • Nov. 19, 2022
Fractious relations among siblings have undone many a family dynasty, including the Bancrofts, who sold Dow Jones & Company to Mr. Murdoch in 2007 during a period of internal rancor.
From New York Times • Jun. 13, 2015
"Fractious mules," says a correspondent of The Daily Mail, "should not be sent to the country for sale."
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, Jan. 8, 1919 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
