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
- fractiously adverb
- fractiousness noun
- unfractious adjective
- unfractiously adverb
- unfractiousness noun
Etymology
Origin of fractious
First recorded in 1715–25; fracti(on) + -ous
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.
Those who sued during that febrile and fractious period generated considerable anger among PGA Tour players, who felt money that belonged to them as members was being channelled into the pockets of lawyers instead.
From BBC
The Saudis and Emiratis, both wealthy oil-producers and neighbours, have long supported rival factions in Yemen's fractious government, which is based in the country's south.
From Barron's
They now control almost all of South Yemen's former territory following their lighting offensive in early December, with the STC holding more land than any other single faction in Yemen's fractious political landscape.
From Barron's
Myanmar's military has ruled the country for most of its post-independence history, presenting itself as the only force capable of guarding the fractious Southeast Asian nation from rupture and ruin.
From Barron's
The outlook, a good tonic for our dangerously fractious times, is worth recovering.
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.
