Definition of "fractious" []

• Inclined to make trouble; unruly. (adjective)
• Having a peevish nature; cranky. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "There's an old joke about university faculty politics: the reason it gets so bitter and fractious is because there is so little at stake."
• "I must say that the most enlightened thing you said in your post was, in an odd analogy, that the reason university faculty politics become so bitter and fractious is because there is "... so little at stake," That´s it precisely."
• ""The same qualities that enabled her to unify what some described as a fractious campus will serve the nation, and the Constitution, well.""