captious
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- adjective Apt to notice and make much of unimportant faults or defects; disposed to find fault or raise objections; prone to cavil; difficult to please; faultfinding; touchy.
- adjective Proceeding from a faultfinding or caviling disposition; fitted to harass or perplex; censorious; carping; hence, insidious; crafty.
- adjective Capable of receiving; capacious.
- adjective Insnaring; captivating.
Examples
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Well, my lord, I don't think I could be called captious for saying that the world has not gone over well with me.
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Those interchanges have ranged from the thoughtful interplay of ideas and differing points of view, to the captious arguments of those whose only apparent mission in life is to dismiss anything or anyone pointing a way forward.
Note
This word comes from the Latin 'capere,' to seize.
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