(n) apparent contradiction

"He is so wise in some ways and so foolish in others that he is a living _________."

(n) emotion of sympathetic pity

"The ________ of the child's death on Christmas Eve filled us all with sadness."

(adj) meditative, thoughtful, absorbed

"John sat there so ________, so lost in his own thoughts, that he did not hear us call."

(n) crass, uninformed person, often with materialistic values: Babbitt

"Some people are such _________s that they see modern art merely as an excuse for jokes."

(adj) deeply affecting the feelings

"At my daughter's graduation, I suddenly had a __________ realization that my child had grown up."

(v)  to chatter or babble

"We let the little girl ______ on without listening to her."

(n) proximity; nearness in place or time

"The only trouble with this apartment is its ________ to a low-class tavern."

(v) to make up for; compensate

"For years he has tried to get _________ for the damage done to his property."

(adj) restrained, silent, uncommunicative

"Don't be so _________; tell us what happened."

(adj) more than fully satisfied; glutted, surfeited

"He played so many records that we became _________ with music."

(adj) sharp, disconnected sounds; abrupt, disjointed

"We heard the crack of a rifle, then the _________ chatter of a machine gun."

(adj) terse, concise, compressed

"His _________ style is a marked contrast to my wordy, verbose writing."

(n) servile, self-seeking flatterer; toady

"The new president was soon made vain by the praises of the ___________s."

(adj) holding fast, persistent

"When it comes to stubbornly sticking to the job, Mike is as _________ as a bulldog."

(n) beginner, novice, amateur

"If experts cannot solve the problem, what can a _________, who knows nothing about it, expect to do?"

(adj) proud, pompous, boastful

"Because he won a game of checkers, he's as ___________ as a conquering hero."

(n) wordiness, redundancy, prolixity

"As a speaker he is noted for his ponderous __________ and intricate purple prose."

(n) accomplished performer, esp. in music

"He gave a wonderful performance, brilliant in its technical perfection, such as only a __________ could give."

(n) liveliness, animation, sprightliness

"Her flashing eyes and quick laugh showed her __________."

(adj) loose, lascivious, promiscuous, immoral

"He wasted his inheritance in high living and the _________ pleasures of women and wine."