[f. as prec. + -NESS.] Captious quality or disposition.
1545. Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke (1548), 71 a. The malicious capciousnesse of the Pharisees and of the Scribes.
1664. H. More, Myst. Iniq., 101. Who put questions … for captiousness, contention and a conceited hope of puzzling him.
1750. Johnson, Rambl., No. 74, ¶ 5. The captiousness of old age.
1861. Sat. Rev., 30 Nov., 562. [He] sometimes pushes his criticism to the length of captiousness.
