Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of 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.