Contumely: meaning and SAT practice
Contumely (noun) means: Insulting or disrespectful treatment that causes shame or humiliation.
Contumely in a sentence
The employee resigned after suffering years of contumely from her rude manager.
Similar: insult, disrespect, abuse, rudeness. Opposite: respect, courtesy, kindness.
SAT-style practice: what does “contumely” most nearly mean?
The employee resigned after suffering years of contumely from her rude manager.
As used in the sentence, “contumely” most nearly means
- insult
- patience
- cunning
- consequence
Show the answer
Answer: A. “contumely” means: Insulting or disrespectful treatment that causes shame or humiliation. “insult” 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.
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