Thursday, August 4, 2011

CAPTIOUS

captious:

PRONUNCIATION: \ˈkap-shəs\

- marked by ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections; e.g. captious critics

- intended to entrap or confuse, as in an argument e.g.; a captious question

Example: The U.S. Supreme Court rarely votes with unanimity. So, when it decides a case unanimously, the very fact of that unanimity causes even a typically captious observer to reflexively conclude that the result was correct. [Reference: Questioning Questionable Recusal Calls]

Note: In the above example:

unanimity means:  the quality or state of being unanimous; where unanimous means "being of one mind; agreeing"

and

reflexively is the adverb for reflexive; where reflexive means "turned back on itself"; e.g. in [he dressed himself], the verb “dress” is reflexive.