captious

adjective

cap·tious ˈkap-shəs How to pronounce captious (audio)

: marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections

captious critics

a captious rivalry

: calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument

a captious question

captiously adverb

captiousness noun

Example Sentences

a captious and cranky eater who's never met a vegetable he didn't hate

Recent Examples on the Web So much of the new sobriety flex is anathema to the captious alcoholics of 12-step groups.

Virginia Heffernan, Wired, 19 Apr. 2022 That a right-wing party traditionally captious about American patriotism did not react heatedly to evidence of Russian interference in US elections is bizarre.

Darryl Pinckney, The New York Review of Books, 5 Nov. 2020 Berryman was a captious and self-heating complainer, slow to cool.

Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2020

captious

adjective

as in critical

given to making or expressing unfavorable judgments about things a captious and cranky eater who's never met a vegetable he didn't hate

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

critical
faultfinding
caviling
hypercritical
overcritical
carping
judgmental
rejective
cavilling
particular
merciless
demanding
discerning
pettifogging
uncharitable
nitpicky
finicky
fastidious
judicious
discriminating
quibbling
picky
finical
harsh
exacting
fussy
unforgiving

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

uncritical
undiscriminating
charitable
undemanding
forgiving
unfussy

Synonym Chooser

Some common synonyms of captious are carping, censorious, critical, faultfinding, and hypercritical. While all these words mean "inclined to look for and point out faults and defects," captious suggests a readiness to detect trivial faults or raise objections on trivial grounds.

a captious critic

The meanings of carping and captious largely overlap; however, carping implies an ill-natured or perverse picking of flaws.

a carping editorial

The words censorious and captious are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, censorious implies a disposition to be severely critical and condemnatory.

the censorious tone of the review

In some situations, the words critical and captious are roughly equivalent. However, critical may also imply an effort to see a thing clearly and truly in order to judge it fairly.

a critical essay

While the synonyms faultfinding and captious are close in meaning, faultfinding implies a querulous or exacting temperament.

a faultfinding reviewer

Although the words hypercritical and captious have much in common, hypercritical suggests a tendency to judge by unreasonably strict standards.

hypercritical disparagement of other people's work

单词	captious
释义	captious adjective cap·tious ˈkap-shəs 1 : marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections captious critics a captious rivalry 2 : calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument a captious question captiously adverb captiousness noun Did you know? Captious comes from Latin captio, which refers to a deception or verbal quibble. Arguments labeled captious are likely to "capture" a person; they often entrap through subtly deceptive reasoning or trifling points. A captious individual is one who might also be dubbed "hypercritical," the sort of carping, censorious critic only too ready to point out minor faults and raise objections on trivial grounds. Synonyms carping caviling cavilling critical faultfinding hypercritical judgmental overcritical rejective See all Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences a captious and cranky eater who's never met a vegetable he didn't hate Recent Examples on the Web So much of the new sobriety flex is anathema to the captious alcoholics of 12-step groups. Virginia Heffernan, Wired, 19 Apr. 2022 That a right-wing party traditionally captious about American patriotism did not react heatedly to evidence of Russian interference in US elections is bizarre. Darryl Pinckney, The New York Review of Books, 5 Nov. 2020 Berryman was a captious and self-heating complainer, slow to cool. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2020 Word History Etymology 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 entry 1 First Known Use 14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1 captious adjective as in critical given to making or expressing unfavorable judgments about things a captious and cranky eater who's never met a vegetable he didn't hate Synonyms & Similar Words Relevance critical faultfinding caviling hypercritical overcritical carping judgmental rejective cavilling particular merciless demanding discerning pettifogging uncharitable nitpicky finicky fastidious judicious discriminating quibbling picky finical harsh exacting fussy unforgiving Antonyms & Near Antonyms uncritical undiscriminating charitable undemanding forgiving unfussy Synonym Chooser Some common synonyms of captious are carping, censorious, critical, faultfinding, and hypercritical. While all these words mean "inclined to look for and point out faults and defects," captious suggests a readiness to detect trivial faults or raise objections on trivial grounds. a captious critic The meanings of carping and captious largely overlap; however, carping implies an ill-natured or perverse picking of flaws. a carping editorial The words censorious and captious are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, censorious implies a disposition to be severely critical and condemnatory. the censorious tone of the review In some situations, the words critical and captious are roughly equivalent. However, critical may also imply an effort to see a thing clearly and truly in order to judge it fairly. a critical essay While the synonyms faultfinding and captious are close in meaning, faultfinding implies a querulous or exacting temperament. a faultfinding reviewer Although the words hypercritical and captious have much in common, hypercritical suggests a tendency to judge by unreasonably strict standards. hypercritical disparagement of other people's work
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captious

adjective

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Synonyms

Example Sentences

Word History

adjective

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