fractiousness

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English fractious

Proto-Germanic *-in-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti

Proto-Germanic *-ōną

Proto-Germanic *-inōną

Proto-Indo-European *-dyé-

Proto-Germanic *-atjaną

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Germanic *-þuz

Proto-Germanic *-assuz

Proto-Germanic *-inassuz

Proto-West Germanic *-nassī

Old English -nes

Middle English -nesse

English -ness

English fractiousness

From fractious + -ness.

Noun

fractiousness (uncountable)

1. The quality of being fractious; trouble-making; unruliness.
   • 1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter 1, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1953, →ISBN:

     His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed.

2. A peevish or cranky nature.

Related terms

• fractiously