Aspersion

(n.) a curse, expression of ill-will (The rival politicians repeatedly cast _______ on each others' integrity.)

Conflagration

(n.) great fire (The ________ consumed the entire building.)

Demure

(adj.) quiet, modest, reserved (Though everyone else at the party was dancing and going crazy, she remained ________.)

Exculpate

(v.) to free from guilt or blame, exonerate (My discovery of the ring behind the dresser ______ me from the charge of having stolen it.)

Fetid

(adj.) having a foul odor (I can tell from the ______ smell in your refrigerator that your milk has spoiled.)

Inimical

(adj.) hostile (I don't see how I could ever work for a company that was so cold and ______ to me during my interviews.)

Mawkish

(adj.) characterized by sick sentimentality (Although some nineteenth- century critics viewed Dickens's writing as _______, contemporary readers have found great emotional depth in his works.)

Obstreperous

(adj.) noisy, unruly (Billy's ________ behavior prompted the librarian to ask him to leave the reading room.)

Plethora

(n.) an abundance, excess (The wedding banquet included a _______ of oysters piled almost three feet high.)

Quagmire

(n.) a difficult situation (We'd all like to avoid the kind of military ________ characterized by the Vietnam War.)

Rife

(adj.) abundant (Surprisingly, the famous novelist's writing was ____ with spelling errors.)

Sacrosanct

(adj.) holy, something that should not be criticized (In the United States, the Constitution is often thought of as a _______ document)