fractious.

Difficult to manage because of irritability or a tendency to argue.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• fractious child
• fractious meeting

On the page

A fractious meeting lasted until midnight.

The child grew fractious after the long journey.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Comparative more fractious; superlative most fractious where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.