Advanced · Arguing & persuading · Character
Captious: meaning, pronunciation and examples
Captious adjective. Inclined to find fault or raise trivial objections.
How to say it
KAP-shus/ˈkapʃəs/
2 syllables, stressed on the first (KAP).
Captious in a sentence
A captious reviewer complained that the cookbook's photos made him hungry.
Ignore the captious emails; the important feedback was all positive.
Similar and opposite
Similar:
- carping
- nitpicking
- hypercritical
- fault-finding
Opposite:
- easy-going
- uncritical
Where captious comes from
From Latin captiosus, from captio, a deception or sophism.
Test yourself
Which word fills the gap?
Ignore the _____ emails; the important feedback was all positive.
- contentious
- captious
- simplistic
Show the answer
captious: Ignore the captious emails; the important feedback was all positive.