Captious

Pronunciation: /ˈkæpʃəs/

Definitions of captious

adjective tending to find fault or raise petty objections

Example Sentences

A1 She is always very captious about the cleanliness of her house.

A2 The captious customer complained about every little detail of the meal.

B1 The captious editor made numerous changes to the manuscript before approving it for publication.

B2 His captious nature often led to disagreements with his colleagues.

C1 The captious critic tore apart the film, pointing out every flaw in great detail.

C2 Her captious attitude towards her employees made it difficult for them to feel appreciated.

Examples of captious in a Sentence

formal The captious critic always found something to nitpick about in every performance.

informal My captious friend never seems to be satisfied with anything I do.

slang Stop being so captious, dude. Just enjoy the movie.

figurative Her captious attitude was like a dark cloud hanging over the party.

Grammatical Forms of captious

• past tense: captioused
• plural: captiouses
• comparative: more captious
• superlative: most captious
• present tense: captious
• future tense: will be captious
• perfect tense: have been captious
• continuous tense: is being captious
• singular: captious
• positive degree: captious
• infinitive: to be captious
• gerund: captiousing
• participle: captioused

Origin and Evolution of captious

First Known Use: 0015 year

Language of Origin: Latin

Story behind the word: The word 'captious' originated from the Latin word 'captiosus', which means prone to finding fault or raising petty objections.

Evolution of the word: Over time, the word 'captious' has retained its original meaning of being fault-finding or overly critical, but has also come to be associated with someone who is overly argumentative or nitpicky.