Feeling factious? If so, you disagree and are ready to break away. Add an "r" and you have the word fractious, which means irritated and annoyed. People get these words mixed up because if someone is factious, or rebellious, they’re probably also fractious, or mad.

Factious is the adjective form of faction, which is a group that separates from a larger one. A factious student council would be full of cliques and prone to arguments. It’s a word often used in politics:

Lincoln also warned that "a nation which endures factious domestic division is exposed to disrespect abroad, and one party, if not both, is sure sooner or later to invoke foreign intervention." (Seattle Times)

The will was expected to set off another round of squabbling among members of his large and factious family over the Nobel Peace Prize laureate's financial legacy. (New York Times)

The word fractious can describe anyone who’s ready to fight, like a group of angry protesters. The word comes from an old definition of fraction, which in the 1500s meant, basically, "a fight." Although the word fraction isn’t used that way anymore, learning fractions can make some people feel fractious! Here are examples of the word in the wild:

Who knew that sleep researchers were such a fractious bunch? (New York Times)

Lawrence, for his part, was inclined to call Teller’s bluff, for his putative partner was already proving entirely too fractious for his taste. (Big Science)

To remember the difference, the word factious is like faction, but it gets really annoyed when you add an "r" and make it fractious. Grrrrr! Once it’s fractious, it stomps its foot and growls!