Word of the Day - 10/04/26
fractious
/'frækʃəs/(adj.): stubbornly resistant to authority or control
The fractious child refused to go to bed, despite repeated warnings from his parents.
(adj.): easily irritated or annoyed
The hot and humid weather made everyone fractious and prone to snapping at each other.
Word Origin
The word 'fractious' originated in the late 18th century. It comes from 'fraction' (in the sense of a quarrel or dissension) combined with the adjective-forming suffix '-ous'. The word 'fraction' itself derives from the Late Latin 'fractio', meaning 'a breaking', from 'fractus', the past participle of the Latin verb 'frangere', meaning 'to break'. Thus, 'fractious' literally means 'full of fractions' or 'prone to breaking/quarrels'. We can break it down as 'fract-' (from Latin 'fractus', broken) + '-ious' (adjective suffix).
Words with similar origins include 'fraction', 'fragile', 'fragment', 'refract', and 'infringe', all stemming from the Latin root 'frangere' (to break).
As a reminder, here are all of the words from this week:
highfalutin autochthonous fait accompli
fractious
See if you can remember all of this week's words! Here is a sentence that includes all seven, followed by a version that simplifies them to help you remember:
The credulous world leader greeted the enigmatic alien with highfalutin language, praising its knowledge of Earth’s autochthonous civilizations and declaring an alliance a fait accompli, while a plenitude of fractious delegates looked on skeptically.The trusting world leader greeted the mysterious alien with fancy language, praising its knowledge of Earth’s native civilizations and declaring an alliance already decided, while many argumentative delegates looked on skeptically.