cap·tious   (kāp'shəs)    adj.   Marked by a disposition to find and point out trivial faults: a captious scholar. Intended to entrap or confuse, as in an argument: a captious question. [Middle English capcious, from Old French captieux, from Latin captiōsus, from captiō, seizure, sophism, from captus, past participle of capere, to seize; see kap- in Indo-European roots.] cap'tious·ly adv., cap'tious·ness n.

Captious

Cap"tious\, a. [F. captieux, L. captiosus. See Caption.]

1. Apt to catch at faults; disposed to find fault or to cavil; eager to object; difficult to please.

A captious and suspicious age. --Stillingfleet.

I am sensible I have not disposed my materials to abide the test of a captious controversy. --Bwike.

2. Fitted to harass, perplex, or insnare; insidious; troublesome.

Captious restraints on navigation. --Bancroft.

Syn: Caviling, carping, fault-finding; censorious; hypercritical; peevish, fretful; perverse; troublesome.

Usage: Captious, caviling, Carping. A captious person is one who has a fault-finding habit or manner, or is disposed to catch at faults, errors, etc., with quarrelsome intent; a caviling person is disposed to raise objections on frivolous grounds; carping implies that one is given to ill-natured, persistent, or unreasonable fault-finding, or picking up of the words or actions of others.

Caviling is the carping of argument, carping the caviling of ill temper. --C. J. Smith.

captious