Contentious
Contentious adjective - Feeling or displaying eagerness to fight.
Usage example: the Tartars were a contentious people who terrorized much of Asia and eastern Europe during the Middle Ages
Fractious and contentious are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Fractious" instead an adjective "Contentious".
Nearby Word: contention
Fractious
Fractious adjective - Easily irritated or annoyed.
Contentious and fractious are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Contentious" instead an adjective "Fractious".
Nearby Word: fraction
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
- obstreperous and contentious
- obstreperous and fractious
- irritable and contentious
- irritable and fractious
- testy and contentious
- testy and fractious
- contrary and contentious
- contrary and fractious
- perverse and contentious
- perverse and fractious
- touchy and contentious
- touchy and fractious
- irascible and contentious
- irascible and fractious
Both words in one sentence
- What used to be a relatively small, otherwise generally unified community has, ironically enough, blossomed into a fractious, contentious collection of groups all backing one faction or ideal against others.
Source: Newbie Boom
Cite this Source
Fractious and Contentious. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/contentious/fractious
Contentious & Fractious. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/contentious/fractious>.
Fractious or Contentious. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/contentious/fractious.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "contentious" and "fractious" have occurred on timeline