fractious

Fractious is what a group is like just before it breaks. It shares a root with fracture, and it describes the state, not the event: nobody has walked out yet, but every sentence lands badly and the next small thing will not be small. It is used of tired children, long meetings and parliaments in a bad week. In the animation, a red-faced man sits on the floor with his arms folded, surrounded by crumpled paper.