Dictionary

captious en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈkæpʃəs/

Etymology

From Middle English capcious, from Middle French captieux, or its source, Latin captiōsus, from captiō.

Meanings

1. (obsolete) That captures; especially, (of an argument, words etc.) designed to capture or entrap in misleading arguments; sophistical.
   • A captious queſtion, Sir, and your’s is one, Deſerves an anſwer ſimilar, or none. 1786, William Cowper, “Tirocinium: Or, A Review of Schools”, in Poems, 2nd edition, volume II, London: J. Johnson, page 338:
   • Were you aware that in your discourse last Sunday you attributed the captious Problem of the Sadducees to the Pharisees, as a proof of the obscure and sensual doctrines of the latter? 1815 March 24, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “To William Lisle Bowles”, in Collected Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Oxford, published 2000, →ISBN, page 558:
   • […]I know I loue in vaine, ſtriue againſt hope : Yet in this captious, and intemible Siue I ſtill poure in the waters of my loue And lacke not to looſe ſtill[…] 1605, William Shakespeare, All's Well that Ends Well, act I, scene i, page 234:
2. Having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections; cavilling, nitpicky.
   • ...not an irritable word had escaped him; and as every captious conclusion and petulant observation had been in days past always attributed, very justly, by Isabella either to the dyspepsia, brought on by his grief for Margarita, or the fever he sustained from the climate,... 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter LI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 23:
   • The "Our Bold" column, nitpicking at errors in other periodicals, can look merely captious, and its critics often seem to be wildly and collectively wrong-headed. 2009 January 24, Anne Karpf, The Guardian:
   • But Peter Petrovich did not accept this retort. On the contrary, he became all the more captious and irritable, as though he were just hitting his stride. 1968, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, translated by Sidney Monas, Crime and Punishment, published 1866:

Forms

Deriveds

overcaptious · captiousness · captiously · uncaptious

Relateds

caption · capture

Synonyms

critical · carping · sophistical · nitpicky · faultfinding · thorny · hypercritical · tricky

Translations (57)

fi pikkumainen (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · bg критичен (that captures misleadingly) · bg критичен (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · la captiōsus (that captures misleadingly) · it insidioso (that captures misleadingly) · de spitzfindig (that captures misleadingly) · it capzioso (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · fr piège (that captures misleadingly) · tr müşkülpesent (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · fr pinailleur (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · it tortuoso. (that captures misleadingly) · fi harhaanjohtava (that captures misleadingly) · de kleinlich (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · ru придирчивый (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · ota تتیز (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · it arzigogolato (that captures misleadingly) · it ambiguo (that captures misleadingly) · ga gearrghreamannach (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · ca capciós (that captures misleadingly) · ru хи́трый (that captures misleadingly) · vi hay bắt bẻ (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · ca criticador (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · ga beachtaíoch (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · pt capcioso (that captures misleadingly) · ru каверзный (that captures misleadingly) · de krittelig (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · pt astucioso (that captures misleadingly) · nl misleidend (that captures misleadingly) · es pejiguero (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · bg придирчив (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · hy քթի մազ (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · it ingannevole (that captures misleadingly) · bg заядлив (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · pt implicante (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · bg заядлив (that captures misleadingly) · pt ardiloso (that captures misleadingly) · mi ngutu-momoho (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · hy բծախնդիր (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · hy մանրախնդիր (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · it capzioso (that captures misleadingly) · vi nguỵ biện (that captures misleadingly) · de verfänglich (that captures misleadingly) · it cavilloso (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · mi toretore (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · nl sofistisch (that captures misleadingly) · es criticón (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · nl vitziek (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · cmn 詭辯的 /诡辩的 (that captures misleadingly) · it sofistico (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · de kleinkariert (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · de haarspalterisch (that captures misleadingly) · cmn 挑剔 (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · hy խճճող (that captures misleadingly) · es capcioso (that captures misleadingly) · ru сли́шком стро́гий (having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections) · bg придирчив (that captures misleadingly) · cmn 強詞奪理的 /强词夺理的 (that captures misleadingly)