Pronunciation

How to pronounce “fractious

“fractious” is pronounced /ˈfɹækʃəs/ (FRAK-shuhs) in American English and /fɹakʃəs/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “frac”.
The sound

Say “fractious” in 2 beats

Say it like this

fractious

/ˈfɹækʃəs/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /fɹakʃəs/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

2 beats
  1. fracfɹækstress
  2. tiousʃəs
IPA (American)
/ˈfɹækʃəs/
IPA (British)
/fɹakʃəs/
Respelling
FRAK-shuhs
Syllables
2 — FRAC-tious
Stress
Stress the first syllable: FRAC-tious. “frac” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈfɹækʃəs/

British

/fɹakʃəs/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “fractious” means

  1. adjective

    stubbornly resistant to authority or control

    a fractious animal that would not submit to the harness

  2. adjective

    easily irritated or annoyed

    an incorrigibly fractious young man

  3. adjective

    unpredictably difficult in operation; likely to be troublesome

    rockets were much too fractious to be tested near thickly populated areas

Say it in a sentence

The meeting grew fractious once the parking plan appeared.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

fractious”, answered

How do you pronounce “fractious”?

“fractious” is pronounced /ˈfɹækʃəs/ (FRAK-shuhs) in American English and /fɹakʃəs/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “frac”. Build it as FRAC-tious, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “fractious” have?

2: frac · tious. The beat lands on the first, “frac”.

Is “fractious” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈfɹækʃəs/ (FRAK-shuhs); British English says /fɹakʃəs/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “fractious” mean?

As an adjective: stubbornly resistant to authority or control For example: “a fractious animal that would not submit to the harness” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “fractious”?

Stress the first syllable: FRAC-tious. “frac” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “fractious” and see every sound

Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.