Hence, an impostor in argument; a captious or fallacious reasoner.
To think every thing disputable is a proof of a weak mind and captious temper.
Defn: One who is critical beyond measure or reason; a carping critic; a captious censor.
It would have taken a far more captious critic than the pretty widow to find fault with the large, high-ceilinged room in which she sat.
He need not really regret that this should be the case; persons with this exceedingly well-ordered form of mind are apt to be a little too precise for ordinary folk, and may even by the captious be rated as dull creatures.
Some of these objections to the service, as may be imagined, were rather captious and hypercritical; yet in many cases they pointed out real defects.
His courageous honesty destroyed in this country the last vestige of captious hostility.
But I was too rejoiced both at the girl's departure and the matter of fact way in which Dicky took it to be captious about the language in which he couched the news of her going.
She was unusually beautiful, with golden hair that was so real the most captious person could not suspect that hair of being dyed.
Why should I remain the butt of all the captious critics throughout the country?
The captious might certainly have objected that the dessert would have been more satisfactory had nut-crackers been supplied with the walnuts.
What dexterity of quibble, and captious objection, and petty sophistry.
Only the most captious mind could blame him for this; but this it was, nevertheless, which greatly conduced to the downfall of his Government.
I know I love in vain; strive against hope; Yet, in this captious and intenible sieve I still pour in the waters of my love, And lack not to lose still.
In French the word captieux, according to the Academy, is only applied to language, though we may say un homme captieux to signify a man who has the art of deceiving or leading into error by captious language.
Upon which last words the Scholiast observes as follows:--"We must not take captiousexception to the poet, as if he were here exhorting men to perjure themselves.
We cannot help forming opinions of each other, but we can avoid captious criticism, sharp and needless censure.
Let us listen to what the Word has to say, since we are renewed by the use of it, and be less captious in our criticism of its teachings (Mayor).
With Boone's influence to aid them, Jack's friends found a surprising change in the demeanor of the officials, hitherto captious and indifferent.
And in the first place, they are blameable in this, that they use a mostcaptious kind of interrogation.
They call it sorites,(11) when they make up a heap by adding grain after grain; a very vicious andcaptious style of arguing.
But what a great variety of arguments, which lead to conclusions according to reason, do they give us, and how dissimilar are they to captious questions!
And thus, too, says he, I will check myself, and not reply any more to one who addresses me with captious questions.
The second is, that some men, being deluded and deceived by fallacious and captious interrogatories, when they cannot clear them up, abandon the truth.
A captious question, sir (and yours is one,) Deserves an answer similar, or none.
Gone was his violence, gone his self-assertion, and his insolent, captious attitude towards his visitor.
The men of the command were by no means as captious regarding him as we two nephews of the man whom we believed to be the rightful commander.
We took it up, like our neighbors, and, as was natural, in a somewhat captious frame of mind.
I had become captious and unreasonable: my temper was utterly spoilt.
The only danger in making oneself liable for new schemes," wrote one captious critic, "arises from the possibility of their being proceeded with.
Always some weary captious paradox to fight you with, and the time and temper wasted.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "captious" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
