faction
1a group or clique within a larger group, party, government, organization, or the like, typically having different opinions and interests than the larger group: a faction in favor of big business; rival factions within the company.
party strife and intrigue; dissension: an era of faction and treason.
Origin of faction
1Other words for faction
Other definitions for faction (2 of 2)
a form of writing or filmmaking that treats real people or events as if they were fictional or uses them as an integral part of a fictional account.
a novel, film, play, or other presentation in this form.
Origin of faction
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use faction in a sentence
Islamist brigades including Suqur al-Sham, a 9,000-strong militia, are openly breaking with Western-favored rebel factions.
Spies Warned White House: Don’t Hit Al Qaeda in Syria | Shane Harris, Jamie Dettmer | November 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe media and political factions used them when they were hot—even Hollywood came in and supported them—and where are they now?
Putin’s Hockey Pal Tells All: Slava Fetisov on ‘Red Army,’ Soviet Nostalgia, and What Drives Putin | Marlow Stern | October 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFrom the militia perspective, the Shia factions in Iraq break down as follows.
The New Iraq War Could Be Won or Lost This Month by Baghdad Politics | Bartle Bull | October 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe tensions between these factions have burned hot and long.
After Years of Racial Division, the Green Movement Gets Brown | Sally Kohn | September 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd while abolition of the air force is unlikely, the factions that believe in the primacy of boots on the ground are influential.
Why the U.S. Army Is Stuck in the 19th Century | Bill Sweetman | September 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Hence arise factions, dissensions, and loss to their religious interests and work; and these intruders seek to rule the others.
They split up into rival factions, each one wanting to set up a government of its own.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanThe doors of the House of Commons were again besieged by the two great contending factions of the City.
The History of England from the Accession of James II. | Thomas Babington MacaulayHe also had a good deal to do with Ireland, when, as now, the country was torn by contending factions.
East Anglia | J. Ewing RitchieHis voice had been heard in the Riding Hall where friends were daily being divided and factions made.
The Light That Lures | Percy Brebner
British Dictionary definitions for faction (1 of 2)
/ (ˈfækʃən) /
a group of people forming a minority within a larger body, esp a dissentious group
strife or dissension within a group
Origin of faction
1Derived forms of faction
- factional, adjective
- factionalism, noun
- factionalist, noun
British Dictionary definitions for faction (2 of 2)
/ (ˈfækʃən) /
a television programme, film, or literary work comprising a dramatized presentation of actual events
Origin of faction
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for faction
A group formed to seek some goal within a political party or a government. The term suggests quarrelsome dissent from the course pursued by the party or government majority: “His administration is moderate, but it contains a faction of extremists.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse