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captious

[ kap-shuhs ]
/ ˈkæp ʃəs /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR captious

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.

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Origin of captious

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

SYNONYMS FOR captious

1 carping, nitpicking, niggling, picky, testy.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR 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
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to captious

acrimonious, cantankerous, carping, censorious, contrary, crabby, cross, demanding, disparaging, exacting, fault-finding, finicky, hypercritical, irritable, peevish, perverse, petulant, sarcastic, severe, testy

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, noun

Word 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 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012