fractious

[frak-shuh s] /ˈfræk ʃəs/

adjective

refractory or unruly:

a fractious animal that would not submit to the harness.

readily angered; peevish; irritable; quarrelsome:

an incorrigibly fractious young man.

Origin

1715-25; fracti(on) + -ous

Related forms

fractiously, adverb

fractiousness, noun

unfractious, adjective

unfractiously, adverb

unfractiousness, noun

Can be confused

factional, factious, fractious.

Synonyms

1. stubborn, difficult. 2. testy, captious, petulant, snappish, pettish, waspish, touchy.

Examples from the web for fractious

As our own fractious moment shows, the world spins, but not always in the same direction.
There are two rollicking sailors in this fractious and excellent comedy.
He has led this potentially fractious process with great professionalism and evenhandedness.
Instead, it has stumbled into fractious internal squabbling.
It is far from having a fractious free press or an active civil society.
fractious and marginal, they have so far been unable to field a viable candidate for president.
His fractious coalition proved impossible to manage.
Importantly, their armies also learn to work together, even when relations between their governments occasionally turn fractious.
The political culture remains fractious and often violent.
Yet the cabinet's decree has united his often fractious opponents and so far failed to achieve its objective.

British Dictionary definitions for fractious

fractious

/ˈfrækʃəs/

adjective

irritable

unruly

Derived Forms

fractiously, adverb
fractiousness, noun

Usage note

Fractious is sometimes wrongly used where factious is meant: this factious (not fractious) dispute has split the party still further

Word Origin

C18: from (obsolete) fraction discord + -ous

Word Origin and History for fractious

adj.

1725, from fraction in an obsolete sense of "a brawling, discord" (c.1500) + -ous; probably on model of captious. Related: Fractiously; fractiousness.