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
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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.
Polling from the fractious summer of 2024 for the research group More In Common suggested that only 18% of voters overall believed the police treat ethnic minorities more favourably than white people.
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
India voiced concern on Sunday over a US visa crackdown, striking a rare critical note even as it expressed broad alignment with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on other fractious issues.
From Barron's • May 24, 2026
Washington and Kyiv, where relations have been fractious since the start of President Trump’s second term, have been negotiating a drone manufacturing deal since at least September, according to previous U.S. statements.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
In 1993, Becerra entered Congress on a rising wave of Latino political power and the heels of a fractious presidential election in which former White House aide Pat Buchanan challenged President George H.W.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2026
She was still too heavy with sleep to sound really fractious, but it was apparent that she felt there was some kind of injustice in the air.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
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.
