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

Warren concluded with a scathing diagnosis of the Adams correspondence with her as a scattered series of verbal impulses and “the most captious, malignant, irrelevant compositions that have ever been seen.”

From Literature

Georgiana, who had a spoiled temper, a very acrid spite, a captious and insolent carriage, was universally indulged.

From Literature

“I do not want to be captious, but desire the public to understand the facts,” Baker told The Washington Post.

From Washington Post

“I wish you’d learn to put the caps back on things properly when you’re finished using them,” she said in a tone she fully meant to sound captious.

From Literature

The president, she has written in an essay for LitHub, is “famously prone to captious bluster”, with the press only one of his targets.

From The Guardian