captious

[ kap-shuhs ]

adjective

1. apt to notice and make much of trivial faults or defects; faultfinding; difficult to please.

   Synonyms: testy, picky, niggling, carping

2. proceeding from a faultfinding or caviling disposition:

   He could never praise without adding a captious remark.

3. apt or designed to ensnare or perplex, especially in argument:

   captious questions.

captious

/ ˈkæpʃəs /

adjective

1. apt to make trivial criticisms; fault-finding; carping

Derived Forms

• ˈcaptiously, adverb
• ˈcaptiousness, noun

Other Words From

• captious·ly adverb
• captious·ness noun
• non·captious adjective
• non·captious·ly adverb
• non·captious·ness noun
• over·captious adjective
• over·captious·ly adverb
• over·captious·ness noun
• un·captious adjective
• un·captious·ly adverb
• un·captious·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of captious¹

1350–1400; Middle English capcious < Latin captiōsus sophistical, equivalent to capti ( ō ) a taking, hence, sophism ( caption ) + -ōsus -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of captious¹

C14 (meaning: catching in error): from Latin captiōsus, from captiō a seizing; see caption

Example Sentences

The human sweetness in him was half dried up, and a misanthropy, so new and alien to him, made him querulous and captious.

From Project Gutenberg

But the real Hynde Horn in the dear old ballad had a truelove who was not captious and capricious and cold like Francesca.

From Project Gutenberg

"There, you hear that," said Lawless, who had just drunk enough to render him captious and obstinate.

From Project Gutenberg

The Pharisees, always captious and controversial, sought to entangle the Savior in a discussion on the subject of divorce.

From Project Gutenberg

A captious eye might have marked it as somewhat lacking—somewhat too round and ready, like the ripple on a pan of water.

From Project Gutenberg