fracas
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɹækɑː/
ipa: /fɹəˈkɑː/
ipa: /ˈfɹeɪkəs/
ipa: /ˈfɹækəs/
ipa: /ˈfɹækaː/
Forms: form: fracases
form: fracas
Etymology: From French fracas, derived from fracasser, from Italian fracassare, from fra- + cassare, equivalent to Latin infra + quassare.
Senses: examples: text: Fanny read to herself that “it was with infinite concern the newspaper had to announce to the world, a matrimonial fracas in the family of Mr. R. of Wimpole Street; the beautiful Mrs. R. whose name had not long been enrolled in the lists of hymen, and who had promised to become so brilliant a leader in the fashionable world, having quitted her husband’s roof in company with the well known and captivating Mr. C. the intimate friend and associate of Mr. R. and it was not known, even to the editor of the newspaper, whither they were gone.”
ref: 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XV, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 281–282:
text: The Oregon-Northern California region had lost much of its population during the fracas of 1980; it had been heavily hit by Red Chinese guided missiles, and of course the clouds of fallout had blanketed it in the subsequent decade.
ref: 1964, Philip K. Dick, The Simulacra, paperback edition, Vintage Books, published 2002, page 37:
text: And I recall also some years ago, Mr Rayne, who travelled to America as valet to Sir Reginals Mauvis, remarking that a taxi driver in New York regularly addressed his fare in a manner which if repeated in London would end in some sort of fracas, if not in the fellow being frogmarched to the nearest police station.
ref: 1989, Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day, paperback edition, Faber, published 1999, page 16:
text: To the ranks of wonky risk management professionals who have toiled over the minutia of E.S.G. reports for decades now, the political fracas is perplexing.
ref: 2023 February 28, David Gelles, “How E.S.G. Became Public Enemy No. 1 for Conservatives”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
text: But as a matter of corporate drama, the OpenAI fracas is above all a great example of why the incredibly boring-sounding term corporate governance is actually extremely important.
ref: 2023 November 22, Derek Thompson, “The OpenAI Mess Is About One Big Thing”, in The Atlantic:
synonyms: word: commotion
word: hubbub
word: kerfuffle
word: ado
word: argy-bargy
word: bangarang
word: bobbery
word: brouhaha
word: bunfight
word: bustle
word: bust-up
word: chaos
word: clamour
word: clatter
word: commotion
word: disruption
word: disturbance
word: flap
word: foofaraw
word: fracas
word: furor
word: fuss
word: hobbleshaw
word: hoo-ha
word: hoo-hah
word: hubbub
word: hullabaloo
word: hurly-burly
word: kerfuffle
word: mayhem
word: merry hell
word: outcry
word: palaver
word: pandemonium
word: pother
word: quarrel
word: riot
word: rowdydow
word: ruckus
word: rumpus
word: shemozzle
word: shindy
word: splatterdash
word: stir
word: stooshie
word: three-ring circus
word: to-do
word: tomfoolery
word: trouble
word: tumult
word: turmoil
word: unrest
word: uproar
word: upstir
glosses: A noisy disorderly quarrel, fight, brawl, disturbance or scrap.
Related terms: quash