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People and roles

Synonyms for fractious

Synonyms for fractious: cranky and recalcitrant. Every one of them is a hand audited pair from the Synonym Stack word bank, shown below in the sense it fits, in a real sentence, and beside the words that only look close.

2 synonyms · Tier 4, High Camp · 2 senses · adjective · 1 reason line · a wrong tile in 1 puzzle

The 2 synonyms for fractious

  • crankyadjective, in the sense "easily irritated or annoyed"
  • recalcitrantadjective, in the sense "stubbornly resistant to authority or control"

Two senses of fractious, two audited synonyms, one for each. The bank does not stack alternatives under a sense it has not separated.

Sense 1 of 2adjectiveTier 4, High CampPeople and roles

easily irritated or annoyed

The baby grew fractious in the afternoon heat.

One sentence, one sense. Without it the word could be read three other ways.

The true synonym

cranky

Same sentence, swapped: The baby grew cranky in the afternoon heat.

Close but different

The game offers these three alongside the answer. They are close enough to tempt and wrong enough to be wrong, which is the whole design.

  • incorrigible
  • adverse
  • alien
Sense 2 of 2adjectiveTier 4, High CampQualities

stubbornly resistant to authority or control

A fractious animal that would not submit to the harness.

One sentence, one sense. Without it the word could be read three other ways.

The true synonym

recalcitrant

Same sentence, swapped: A recalcitrant animal that would not submit to the harness.

Close but different

The game shows these three beside the answer. Each is a real word with a real meaning and none of them fits the slot fractious is in above, which is the point the reason line makes.

  • tetchy
  • spiteful
  • disagreeable

Where fractious turns up in the game

fractious is the word under test in two puzzles, spread across Tier 4, High Camp. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in one other puzzle, where the answer is a different word entirely.

The puzzle where fractious is the trap

  • refractoryadjective, Tier 4, High Camp. The answer there is stubborn, in the sense "not responding to treatment", so fractious is there to be ruled out.

Play fractious

The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so fractious reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.

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The wrong tile gets explained too

Synonym Stack plays from this exact bank. fractious carries 1 written reason line, and the game shows them the moment a round ends, whichever tile you tapped.

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