Word Confusion: Factional versus Factious

Posted August 3, 2023 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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In this word confusion factional versus factious are both adjectives relating to self-interested dissent, which makes this pair of words hard to differentiate between!

Factional is of, pertaining to, or composed of factions.

Factious is of, pertaining to, or caused by factions.

This factional faction is factious.

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Exploring Later . . .

You may also want to explore “Facetious vs Factious vs Fractious“.

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Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Factional	Factious
Ohio, the Mother of Presidents by Clifford Kennedy Berryman is part of the Berryman Political Cartoon Collection and courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration. — A factional split resulted in the Bull Moose Party when Roosevelt broke from the Republican Party.	This Supreme Court Session Took the Country on a Sharp Turn in the Wrong Direction by Ted Eytan is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via the International Network of Street Newspapers. — It was a factious decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective	Adjective
Relating or belonging to a group or clique within a larger group Characterized by dissent Self-interested Partisan	Relating or inclined to dissension Pertaining to or proceeding from a small organized dissenting group within a larger one, especially in politics
Examples:
The factional leaders were in disarray. Factional conflicts were derailing the peace process. Factional interests had obstructed justice. There were factional disputes between the various groups.	Factious quarrels were springing up everywhere. A factious group was trying to undermine the government. “Steadfast in purpose, he was never overwhelmed by misfortune and never yielded to factious opposition” (Hunt). “Fox offered a factious opposition to this measure, alleging that it conferred a dangerous power on the executive” (Hunt). A factious group is liable to split off into factions.
Derivatives:
Adjective: interfactional, unfactional Adverb: factionally Noun: factionalism, factionalist Verb: factionalise, factionalize	Adjective: nonfactious, overfactious, unfactious Adverb: factiously, nonfactiously overfactiously, unfactiously Noun: factiousness, nonfactiousness, overfactiousness
History of the Word:
First recorded in 1640–50; faction + -al.	Mid-16th century, from the French factieux or the Latin factiosus, from factio meaning a small organized dissenting group within a larger group.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

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