a group or clique within a larger group, party, government, organization, or the like, typically having different opinions and interests than the larger group: a faction in favor of big business; rival factions within the company.
party strife and intrigue; dissension: an era of faction and treason.
Origin of faction
1
First recorded in 1500–10; <Latin factiōn- (stem of factiō ) “a doing, company, division,” equivalent to fact(us) “done, made” (see fact) + -iōn- -ion
Even more recently, researchers have documented QAnon accounts pushing false claims that members of antifa, a loosely organized, far-left political faction, had started wildfires in the Pacific Northwest.
As QAnon grew, Facebook and Twitter missed years of warning signs about the conspiracy theory’s violent nature|Craig Timberg, Elizabeth Dwoskin|October 1, 2020|Washington Post
In 1998, he bolted from the faction of Keizo Obuchi, a party bigwig who later became prime minister, to support a rival Suga believed more capable.
How the son of strawberry pickers became Japan’s most likely choice for next prime minister|claychandler|September 3, 2020|Fortune
That left the selection of prime minister in the hands of the small coterie of senior power brokers who control the party’s largest factions.
How the son of strawberry pickers became Japan’s most likely choice for next prime minister|claychandler|September 3, 2020|Fortune
Ishiba, thought by many to be the front-runner, is popular among the party’s rank and file, though less so among senior faction leaders.
The legacy Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister, will leave after resigning|claychandler|August 28, 2020|Fortune
A total of five states24 will hold their down-ballot primaries or runoffs today, in which the fight between the radical wings and more moderate factions will continue for both parties.
What You Need To Know About Today’s Elections In Minnesota And Georgia|Geoffrey Skelley (geoffrey.skelley@abc.com)|August 11, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
But it is not clear if the latest action is at the hands of that faction or another.
Fierce Fighting in Grozny Raises Specter of ISIS Influence in Russia|Anna Nemtsova|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This faction of the opposition is itself fractured into dozens of splinter groups.
Al Qaeda Makes a Play for the U.S. Allies the War Against ISIS Depends On|Jacob Siegel|September 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Dostum was then commander of an armored unit in the army and a member of the Parcham faction.
The Warlord Who Defines Afghanistan: An Excerpt From Bruce Riedel’s ’What We Won’|Bruce Riedel|July 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was a faction of Senate Democrats that saved the nomination of Clarence Thomas in 1991.
The Supreme Court’s Coming Paralysis|Jeff Greenfield|July 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One faction contends violent games invite real-world brutality, and the other faction defends violent games as innocuous.
Playing Violent Video Games Makes You a Better Person, Study Says|Kevin Zawacki|July 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But stubbornness on the one side, and faction on the other, prevailed.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 71, No. 437, March 1852|Various
I rode down immediately with three other gentlemen and a magistrate to the scene of faction.
Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 3 of 3)|John Morley
At his accession the dissensions caused by the faction of Eulalius (see Boniface I.) had not yet abated.
A group formed to seek some goal within a political party or a government. The term suggests quarrelsome dissent from the course pursued by the party or government majority: “His administration is moderate, but it contains a faction of extremists.”