Pronounced: taw-TAWL-uh-guhs, adj
Notes: I’ve run across “tautological”, which I assume to be similar, but I didn’t know the meaning
The word captious means
- marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections
- calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument
The word goes back to the late 1300s
Background / Comments
Our word comes from the Latin word captio (a taking), which came from capere (to take). Captious arguments entrap through subtly deceptive reasoning or trifling points. A captious individual is a kind of carping, censorious critic; one who is ready to point out minor faults or raise objections on trivial grounds.