captious
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captious
- /ˈkæpʃəs/
Where it comes from
From Middle English capcious, from Middle French captieux, or its source, Latin captiōsus, from captiō.
adjective more captious · most captious
-
That captures; especially, (of an argument, words etc.) designed to capture or entrap in misleading arguments; sophistical.
[…]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[…]
Similar: tricky, thorny, sophistical
-
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,...
Similar: carping, critical, faultfinding, hypercritical, nitpicky
Translations
Every language
adj that captures misleadingly
| Español | capcioso |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 詭辯的 /诡辩的 guǐbiàn de, 強詞奪理的 /强词夺理的 qiǎngcíduólǐ de |
| Português | capcioso, ardiloso, astucioso |
| Français | piège |
| Deutsch | spitzfindig, verfänglich, haarspalterisch |
| Italiano | capzioso, tortuoso., ambiguo, ingannevole, insidioso, arzigogolato |
| Русский | каверзный kaverznyj, хи́трый xítryj |
| Tiếng Việt | nguỵ biện |
adj having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections
| Español | criticón, pejiguero |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 挑剔 tiāoti |
| Português | implicante |
| Français | pinailleur |
| Deutsch | krittelig, kleinlich, kleinkariert |
| Italiano | capzioso, sofistico, cavilloso |
| Русский | придирчивый pridirčivyj, сли́шком стро́гий slíškom strógij |
| Tiếng Việt | hay bắt bẻ |
Talk about this word "captious." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/captious. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. captious. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/captious "captious." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/captious.Cite this
@misc{captious_2026,
title = {captious},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/captious},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
