First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
captious
adjective cap·tious \ˈkap-shəs\
Definition of CAPTIOUS
1
: marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections <captious critics>
2
: calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument <a captious question>
— cap·tious·ly adverb
— cap·tious·ness noun
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Origin of CAPTIOUS
Middle English capcious, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French captieux, from Latin captiosus, from captio deception, verbal quibble, from capere to take — more at heave
Related to CAPTIOUS
- Synonyms
- critical, carping, caviling (or cavilling), faultfinding, hypercritical, judgmental, overcritical, rejective
- Antonyms
- uncritical
Synonym Discussion of CAPTIOUS
critical, hypercritical, faultfinding, captious, carping, censorious mean inclined to look for and point out faults and defects. critical may also imply an effort to see a thing clearly and truly in order to judge it fairly <a critical essay>. hypercritical suggests a tendency to judge by unreasonably strict standards <hypercritical disparagement of other people's work>. faultfinding implies a querulous or exacting temperament <a faultfinding reviewer>. captious suggests a readiness to detect trivial faults or raise objections on trivial grounds <a captious critic>. carping implies an ill-natured or perverse picking of flaws <a carping editorial>. censorious implies a disposition to be severely critical and condemnatory <the censorious tone of the review>.
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