captious

/ˈkap-shəs/

Middle English capcious, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French captieux, from Latin captiosus, from captio deception, verbal quibble, from capere to take

adjective

  1. marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections

  2. calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument

captious critics

critical hypercritical faultfinding captious carping censorious mean inclined to look for and point out faults and defects. critical may also imply an effort to see a thing clearly and truly in order to judge it fairly. hypercritical suggests a tendency to judge by unreasonably strict standards.