adjective. Marked by a disposition to find and point out trivial faults.

adjective. Intended to entrap or confuse, as in an argument.

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: as, a captious man.

Proceeding from a faultfinding or caviling disposition; fitted to harass or perplex; censorious; carping; hence, insidious; crafty: as, a captious question.

Capable of receiving; capacious.

Insnaring; captivating.

Synonyms Captious, Carping, Caviling, faultfinding, hypercritical, crabbed, testy, pettish, splenetic, all express unamiable temper and behavior, with wrongheadedness. Captious expresses a disposition to catch at little or inoffensive things, and magnify them into great defects, affronts, etc. Carping is a strong word noting faultfinding that is both unreasonable and unceasing; it applies more to criticism on conduct, while caviling applies to objections to arguments, opinions, and the like: as, it is easier to cavil than to disprove. See petulant.

adjective. Apt to catch at faults; disposed to find fault or to cavil; eager to object; difficult to please.

adjective. Fitted to harass, perplex, or insnare; insidious; troublesome.

adjective. That captures; especially, (of an argument, words etc.) designed to capture or entrap in misleading arguments; sophistical.

adjective. Having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections; cavilling, nitpicky

adjective. tending to find and call attention to faults

"'Well, my lord, I don't think I could be called captious for saying that the world has not gone over well with me.'"

caviling  fault-finding  

critical  

choleric  churlish  excitable  ill-natured  ill-tempered  

bickering  carping  carping  catchy  caviling