Skip to content
word of the day

The word for today is…

captious (adjective):

1 : marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections
2 : calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology : Captious comes from Latin captio, which refers to a deception or verbal quibble. Arguments labeled captious are likely to “capture” a person; they often entrap through subtly deceptive reasoning or trifling points. A captious individual is one who might also be dubbed “hypercritical,” the sort of carping, censorious critic only too ready to point out minor faults and raise objections on trivial grounds.

If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends and, especially, your children.

Latest

How I Fell Out With Julie Burchill

How I Fell Out With Julie Burchill

The Modern Review is coming to Substack with an online archive plus new original content. Read about how the famed ‘low culture’ magazine came crashing down when Julie Burchill plotted a coup with her new lesbian lover.

Members Public