Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Inclined to make trouble; unruly.
  • adjective Having a peevish nature; cranky.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Apt to quarrel; cross; snappish; peevish; fretful; rebellious: as, a fractious child; a fractious temper.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Apt to break out into a passion; apt to scold; cross; snappish; ugly; unruly

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective given to troublemaking
  • adjective irritable; argumentative; quarrelsome

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective easily irritated or annoyed
  • adjective unpredictably difficult in operation; likely to be troublesome
  • adjective stubbornly resistant to authority or control

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From fraction, discord (obsolete).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

fraction (“discord, (now obsolete)”) +‎ -ous

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Examples

  • I must say that the most enlightened thing you said in your post was, in an odd analogy, that the reason university faculty politics become so bitter and fractious is because there is "... so little at stake," That´s it precisely.

    The Lake Chapala Society 2009

  • There's an old joke about university faculty politics: the reason it gets so bitter and fractious is because there is so little at stake.

    The Lake Chapala Society 2009

  • There's an old joke about university faculty politics: the reason it gets so bitter and fractious is because there is so little at stake.

    The Lake Chapala Society 2009

  • I must say that the most enlightened thing you said in your post was, in an odd analogy, that the reason university faculty politics become so bitter and fractious is because there is "... so little at stake," That´s it precisely.

    The Lake Chapala Society 2009

  • There's an old joke about university faculty politics: the reason it gets so bitter and fractious is because there is so little at stake.

    The Lake Chapala Society 2009

  • There's an old joke about university faculty politics: the reason it gets so bitter and fractious is because there is so little at stake.

    The Lake Chapala Society 2009

  • There's an old joke about university faculty politics: the reason it gets so bitter and fractious is because there is so little at stake.

    The Lake Chapala Society 2009

  • There's an old joke about university faculty politics: the reason it gets so bitter and fractious is because there is so little at stake.

    The Lake Chapala Society 2009

  • I must say that the most enlightened thing you said in your post was, in an odd analogy, that the reason university faculty politics become so bitter and fractious is because there is "... so little at stake," That´s it precisely.

    The Lake Chapala Society 2009

  • I must say that the most enlightened thing you said in your post was, in an odd analogy, that the reason university faculty politics become so bitter and fractious is because there is "... so little at stake," That´s it precisely.

    The Lake Chapala Society 2009

Comments

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  • (esp. of children) easily upset and angered, often due to tiredness

    August 15, 2008