factious

American  

[fak-shuhs] / ˈfæk ʃəs /

adjective

1. given to faction; dissentious.

   A factious group was trying to undermine the government.

   Synonyms:

   contentious, mutinous, disputatious, divisive

2. pertaining to or proceeding from faction.

   factious quarrels.

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factious British  

/ ˈfækʃəs /

adjective

1. given to, producing, or characterized by faction

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Other Word Forms

• factiously adverb
• factiousness noun
• nonfactious adjective
• nonfactiously adverb
• nonfactiousness noun
• overfactious adjective
• overfactiously adverb
• overfactiousness noun
• unfactious adjective
• unfactiously adverb

Etymology

Origin of factious

1525–35; from Latin factiōsus “fond of doing, busy, of a company or party,” equivalent to facti- ( see faction ¹) + -ōsus -ous

Explanation

A factious group is one that breaks away, or wants to. It’s often used in politics, where people separate into smaller like-minded groups. The Confederacy was factious — they wanted out of the Union, but we know how that turned out. The word factious looks a lot like its cousin faction, which is a small, sometimes rebellious group. Factious, then, is easy to remember, as the adjectival form of the noun faction. To be factious is to act like a faction. Among bakers, almost all agree that you have to be precise when measuring ingredients. The Brooklyn Faction, though, disagrees. This factious bunch never uses measuring cups or spoons and has called for them to be abolished.

Example Sentences

He believed that “ambition must be made to counter ambition,” and he denounced “the oppression of factious majorities.”

From Slate • Aug. 7, 2024

“We call on all Nigerien democratic patriots to stand up as one to say no to this factious action that tends to set us back decades and block the progress of our country,” he said.

From Washington Times • Jul. 27, 2023

“In a country that’s highly factious, it the factor that unites everyone,” Mark Jones, who studies Latin American politics at Rice University in Houston, told The Associated Press.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 17, 2022

Control of the factious LDP would allow Kishida three years to execute his programme before another election.

From Reuters • Jul. 11, 2022

So far the Governor's course had been hampered only by factious opposition from the chief offenders, but this opposition assumed formidable dimensions when the question of "writs of assistance" was brought forward.

From The Loyalists of Massachusetts And the Other Side of the American Revolution by Stark, James H.