having a tendency to divide into groups or factions
Derived forms
fissiparously (fisˈsiparously)
adverb
fissiparousness (fisˈsiparousness)
noun
fissiparous in American English
(fɪˈsɪpərəs)
adjective
Biology
reproducing by fission
Word origin
< L fissus (see fission) + -parous
fissiparous in American English
(fɪˈsɪpərəs)
adjective
reproducing by fission
Derived forms
fissiparously
adverb
fissiparousness
noun
Word origin
[1825–35; fissi- + -parous]This word is first recorded in the period 1825–35. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: electrolyte, panda, relativity, structural, torque
Examples of 'fissiparous' in a sentence
fissiparous
Already fissiparous, the home side seemed broken.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
British society may be diverse but it is not fissiparous.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Management of his fissiparous, some would say ungovernable, party will be not the least of his challenges.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Musical taste is fashionable and fissiparous.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The task of resolving the euro crisis lies in the hands not of one nation, but of seventeen fissiparous democracies.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Either way, it is evidence that voting patterns have become mercurial, fissiparous and eminently unpredictable.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
And away from the mainstream it has become so fissiparous, squabblesome and insular as to be self-marginalised and pointless.