"Sumptuous" means luxurious or splendid. "Banal" means commonplace or mundane. "Diffident" means hesitant or lacking in confidence. "Endemic" means native or local. "Homogenous" means similar or comparable.

Often, we think of the adjective “grave” as meaning that someone is ill-tempered or “grumpy;” however, its most proper meaning is “serious” or perhaps even “solemn.” According to this meaning, the sentence implies (by using the word “merely”) an opposition between such gravity and the attitude of Devin’s peers. When something is “frivolous,” it appears to be utterly unserious, which would indeed be a fitting opposite to Devin’s grave manner.

For whatever might be said about the regularity of Robin’s undertaking of grand projects, the sentence definitely conveys that she does so without much forethought. When someone acts “impetuously,” he or she acts quickly and without much planning or thought. The word comes from the Latin meaning “to attack” or also “to seek.” The “im-” prefix here intensifies the sense of “attacking” (to the point that one attacks a task without even planning). The general root “-pet-” found in this word is related to the same root found in “petition,” “impetus,” and “repeat.”

"Disingenuous" means deceitful, dishonest, or insincere. "Acrimonious" means bitter or spiteful. "Arcane" means secret or elusive. "Eloquent" means having a skillful way with words or speech. "Lucid" means easily understood or obvious.

From the context of this sentence you know that the blank must be describing some sort of accommodating gesture or compromise made by the senator. Contagious means likely to spread from one to another; extravagant refers to luxury; arrogant and smug both mean cocky. Only conciliatory, which means trying to end an argument and make peace, makes sense in context.

The contrast here is between someone who is completely innocent and a criminal that must be particularly “nasty.” The word “notorious” means “well known,” often implying that said person is well known for bad or criminal acts. The word is related to English words like “noted,” in the sense of being known or recognized.

Since Robert was considered a liar, his words would likely lead to little belief by those hearing them. When someone has no “credibility,” he or she is said to be unbelievable, often because of past neglect of the truth. Hence, Robert is not likely to be a credible witness. It is derived from Latin roots for belief, founding related English words like “credence,” “incredulous,” and “incredible.”

That the team is losing because of something they did regarding money gives a contextual clue that they are not spending much of it on their players. We are also told that the team's losses are being blamed on the manager's "frugality." Parsimonious is defined as frugality to the point of stinginess, so it is the correct answer because it best fits the context of the sentence.

The key thing to note in this sentence is that Timothy is showing no interest in anything at all. A person who has little interest is best described as being “apathetic,” a word that literally means “having now emotions.” The “a-” prefix is here a negative prefix meaning “not,” while “pathetic” comes from Greek roots meaning “feeling” or even “suffering.” It is related to words like “pathos,” “empathy,” “sympathy,” and “passion.”

All of the listed goals are difficult to attain and require exceedingly hard work to make a reality; therefore, they can best be described as lofty or elevated.