fractious
adjective
1. stubbornly resistant to authority or control
- a fractious animal that would not submit to the harness
- a refractory child
Similar word(s): disobedient, recalcitrant, refractory
2. easily irritated or annoyed
- an incorrigibly fractious young man
Similar word(s): cranky, irritable, nettlesome, peckish, peevish, pettish, petulant, scratchy, techy, testy, tetchy
3. unpredictably difficult in operation; likely to be troublesome
- rockets were much too fractious to be tested near thickly populated areas
- fractious components of a communication system