captious
[ kap-shuhs ]
/ ˈkæp ʃəs /
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adjective
apt to notice and make much of trivial faults or defects; faultfinding; difficult to please.
proceeding from a faultfinding or caviling disposition: He could never praise without adding a captious remark.
apt or designed to ensnare or perplex, especially in argument: captious questions.
SYNONYMS FOR captious
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Origin of captious
OTHER WORDS FROM captious
Words nearby captious
captain's mast, captains of industry, captan, CAPTCHA, caption, captious, captivate, captive, captive audience, captive market, captivity
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for captious
British Dictionary definitions for captious
captious
/ (ˈkæpʃəs) /
adjective
apt to make trivial criticisms; fault-finding; carping
Derived forms of captious
captiously, adverbcaptiousness, nounWord Origin for captious
C14 (meaning: catching in error): from Latin captiōsus, from captiō a seizing; see caption
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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