captious
adjective
apt to notice and make much of trivial faults or defects; faultfinding; difficult to please.
captiousness
-
a word derived from
captious.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hägglund examines writing by C. S. Lewis, Augustine, and Kierkegaard with a generous captiousness, fair but firmly forensic.
From The New Yorker ● May 13, 2019
The captiousness of criticism has usually referred to the style of the preceding authors as a standard from which the prevalent style of its contemporaries has erringly diverged.
From Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature by Isaac Disraeli
I dwell upon this point, not in any spirit of captiousness, I need scarcely say, but because it exemplifies a fairly persistent characteristic of MacDowell's style as a song writer.
From Edward MacDowell by Lawrence Gilman
"Too long to discuss now" meant hours of captiousness and months of heroic surgery.
From The Education of Eric Lane by Stephen McKenna
An overcautious lawyer-like captiousness of spirit in such matters will help no cause and serve no good purpose.
From Creation and Its Records by Baden Henry Baden-Powell
