Word of the Day

: May 5, 2022

fractious

adjective FRAK-shus

What It Means

Fractious means "troublesome," "unruly," "quarrelsome," or "irritable."

// The political party is more organized and coherent and less fractious.

See the entry >

fractious in Context

"The game became fractious, heavy tackles flying in, players squaring up to each other. The hostility spread." — Luke Edwards, The Daily Telegraph (London), 4 Apr. 2022

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.