Word Study
fractious
CIDE DICTIONARY
fractious, a. [Cf. Prov. E. frack forward, eager, E. freak, fridge; or Prov. E. fratch to squabble, quarrel.].
Apt to break out into a passion; apt to scold; cross; snappish; ugly; unruly; as, a fractious man; a fractious horse.
Syn. -- Snappish; peevish; waspish; cross; irritable; perverse; pettish.
OXFORD DICTIONARY
fractious, adj.
1 irritable, peevish.
2 unruly.
1 irritable, peevish.
2 unruly.
Derivative
fractiously adv. fractiousness n.
Etymology
FRACTION in obs. sense 'brawling', prob. after factious etc.
THESAURUS
fractious
adversary, adversative, adverse, alien, antagonistic, anti, antipathetic, antithetic, at odds, averse, bearish, beyond control, bitchy, breachy, cankered, cantankerous, churlish, clashing, competitive, complaining, con, conflicting, contradictory, contrary, contumacious, counter, crabbed, cranky, cross, cross-grained, crusty, cursory, cussed, defiant, differing, disaccordant, disagreeable, disagreeing, disinclined, disobedient, disputatious, disputing, dissentient, dissenting, enemy, excitable, feisty, forced, fretful, hostile, huffish, huffy, impatient of control, incorrigible, indisposed, indocile, indomitable, inimical, insuppressible, intractable, involuntary, irascible, irrepressible, irritable, mean, mutinous, negative, noncooperative, objecting, obstinate, obstreperous, obstructive, on the barricades, opponent, opposed, opposing, opposite, oppositional, oppositive, oppugnant, ornery, out of hand, overthwart, peevish, perfunctory, perverse, pettish, petulant, proof against, protesting, querulous, rebellious, recalcitrant, refractory, reluctant, renitent, repellent, repugnant, resistant, resisting, resistive, restive, retardant, retardative, rival, shrewish, snappish, spiteful, spleeny, splenetic, sulky, sullen, testy, ugly, unbiddable, unconsenting, uncontrollable, uncooperative, undisciplined, unfavorable, unfriendly, ungovernable, unmalleable, unmanageable, unmoldable, unpropitious, unruly, unsubmissive, unwilling, unyielding, up in arms, waspish, wild, withstandingROGET THESAURUS
fractious
Irascibility
N irascibility, irascibleness, temper, crossness, susceptibility, procacity, petulance, irritability, tartness, acerbity, protervity, pugnacity, excitability, bad temper, fiery temper, crooked temper, irritable, temper, genus irritabile, hot blood, ill humor, asperity, churlishness, huff, a word and a blow, Sir Fretful Plagiary, brabbler, Tartar, shrew, vixen, virago, termagant, dragon, scold, Xantippe, porcupine, spitfire, fire eater, fury, irascible, bad-tempered, ill-tempered, irritable, susceptible, excitable, thin-skinned, fretful, fidgety, on the fret, hasty, overhasty, quick, warm, hot, testy, touchy, techy, tetchy, like touchwood, like tinder, huffy, pettish, petulant, waspish, snappish, peppery, fiery, passionate, choleric, shrewish, sudden and quick in quarrel, querulous, captious, moodish, quarrelsome, contentious, disputatious, pugnacious, cantankerous, exceptious, restiff, churlish, cross, cross as crabs, cross as two sticks, cross as a cat, cross as a dog, cross as the tongs, fractious, peevish, acari=atre, in a bad temper, sulky, angry, resentful, resentive, vindictive, Int, pish!, a vieux comptes nouvelles disputes, quamvis tegatur proditur vultu furor, vino tortus et ira.For further exploring for "fractious" in Webster Dictionary Online