Brewer's: Captious

Fallacious, deceitful; now it means ill-tempered, carping. (Latin, captiosus.)

I know I love in vain, strive against hope; Yet in this captious and intenible sieve I still pour in the waters of my love.

Shakespeare: All's Well that Ends Well, i. 3.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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