Word: fractious (adjective)

Associations

"Fractious" describes someone or something that is easily upset, annoyed, or difficult to control. It often refers to people, especially children, or animals that are irritable or unruly.

• A fractious child who refuses to listen to their parents. This shows the child is hard to manage.
• A fractious crowd at a concert that becomes noisy and hard to calm down.
• A fractious horse that is difficult to ride because it is easily scared or restless.

Synonym: "irritable" is similar, but "fractious" often implies a tendency to cause trouble or be hard to control, not just feeling annoyed.

Substitution

You can replace "fractious" with:

• irritable (focuses more on mood)
• unruly (focuses more on behavior)
• cranky (informal, mood-related)
• difficult (general, less specific)

Each changes the meaning slightly. For example, "unruly" emphasizes bad behavior, while "irritable" focuses on feeling annoyed.

Deconstruction

"Fractious" comes from the Latin word "fract-" meaning "broken" or "to break." The idea is that a fractious person or animal tends to "break" rules or peace, causing disruption. The suffix "-ious" means "full of" or "having the quality of."

Inquiry

• Can you think of a time when you or someone you know was fractious? What caused it?
• How would you handle a fractious child or pet?
• What situations might make a normally calm person fractious?