Choleric: meaning and SAT practice

Choleric (adjective) means: Quick to anger; easily irritated or bad-tempered.

Choleric in a sentence

The choleric coach yelled at his players over every small mistake during practice.

Similar: irritable, cranky, hot-tempered, grumpy. Opposite: calm, patient, gentle.

SAT-style practice: what does “choleric” most nearly mean?

The choleric coach yelled at his players over every small mistake during practice.

As used in the sentence, “choleric” most nearly means

  1. empty
  2. gullible
  3. smug
  4. irritable
Show the answer

Answer: D. “choleric” means: Quick to anger; easily irritated or bad-tempered. “irritable” is the closest match in this sentence. The other choices are real SAT-level words, but none of them carries that meaning here.

On the digital SAT this is the “Words in Context” skill, about 7 of the 54 Reading and Writing questions. The test asks what a word means as used in the passage, so a word’s most common meaning is not always the answer. More of these, with full explanations, are on SAT Words in Context practice questions.

  • churlish: Rude and unfriendly in manner or behavior.
  • crotchety: Bad-tempered, irritable, and prone to complaining.
  • curmudgeonly: Bad-tempered, grumpy, and unwilling to spend money or be sociable.
  • fractious: Easily upset, quarrelsome, or difficult to manage or control.
  • irascible: Prone to becoming angry easily and quickly.
  • morose: Gloomy, ill-tempered, and unwilling to talk.

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