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adjective
1.
apt to notice and make much of trivial faults or defects; faultfinding; difficult to please.
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.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English capcious < Latin captiōsus sophistical, equivalent to capti(ō) a taking, hence, sophism (see caption) + -ōsus -ous
1350–1400; Middle English capcious < Latin captiōsus sophistical, equivalent to capti(ō) a taking, hence, sophism (see caption) + -ōsus -ous
Related forms
cap·tious·ly, adverb
cap·tious·ness, noun
non·cap·tious, adjective
non·cap·tious·ly, adverb
non·cap·tious·ness, noun
EXPANDo·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
COLLAPSESynonyms
1. carping, nitpicking, niggling, picky, testy.
1. carping, nitpicking, niggling, picky, testy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Captious
is an SAT word you need to know.
So is virulent. Does it mean:
| characterized by great length or discursiveness in speech or writing; wordy; widely spread or scattered; dispersed |
| actively poisonous; intensely noxious; violently or spitefully hostile |
Example Sentences
- In trying to be more serious, the play only becomes more captious.
- What a bloody silly and captious criticism of what has to be one of the world's more serious efforts to clean thngs up.
- Yet ultimately his approach offers more than captious one-upmanship.
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
captious
c.1408, from M.Fr. captieux, from L. captiosus, from captio "a deceiving, fallacious argument," lit. "a taking (in)," from capere "to take, catch" (see capable).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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