fractious
adjective
Did you know?
The Latin verb frangere means "to break or shatter" and is related to a few common words, which is evident in their meanings. Dishes that are fragile break easily. A person whose health is easily broken might be described as frail. A fraction is one of the many pieces into which a whole can be broken. But fraction also once meant "disharmony" or "discord"—that is, a "rupture in relations." From this noun sense came the adjective fractious.
Examples of fractious in a Sentence
Andrew Exum, The Atlantic, 18 Mar. 2024
Biden arrived a bit late, just after 9:15 P.M.; his motorcade, in a sign of the fractious times, had to take the long way from the White House to avoid a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters that sought to block his route.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2024
Many observers had written off such resistance groups as too fractious and weak to present a genuine challenge to the junta.
—Avinash Paliwal, Foreign Affairs, 24 Jan. 2024
Gold’s scorching run to an all-time high may seem easy to explain from a distance, given the fractious geopolitical climate and murky outlook for the global economy.
—Mark Burton, Fortune, 7 Apr. 2024
Trouble is, the populace is restless, the provinces fractious, and the tribes growing - all equally expect patronage to flow their way in return for the Barzanis keeping their grip on power.
—Melik Kaylan, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024
More recently, the always fragmented and fractious political opposition has been hollowed out by arrests of many leading figures on grounds of anti-war agitation.
—Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Mar. 2024
But the failure of DeSantis to sell himself to Republicans as a Trump alternative was one of several flaws that ultimately undermined his presidential campaign, a list that also includes a fractious campaign organization and a notable inability to project warmth on the campaign trail.
—John Bacon, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2024
Chinese shipping cranes are fast becoming the latest item to get caught up in Washington and Beijing’s fractious relationship.
—Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 11 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fractious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near fractious
Cite this Entry
“Fractious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fractious. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
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