#29 culpable ~ cynic

Question 1

culpable

/ˈkʌlpəbəl/

Answer 1

adj. deserving blame; guilty
- The accountant’s failure to spot the errors made him culpable in the tax-fraud case.
- We all felt culpable when the homeless old man died in the doorway of our apartment building.
A person who is culpable (a culprit) is one who can be blamed for doing sth.

Question 2

exculpate

/ˈɛkskʌlˌpeɪt, ɪkˈskʌlpeɪt/

Answer 2

v. free from blame
To decide that a person is not culpable after all is to exculpate that person.
- Lou’s confession didn’t exculpate Bob, because one of the things that Lou confessed was that Bob had helped him to do it.

Question 3

inculpate

/ɪnˈkʌlpeɪt, ˈɪnkʌlpeɪt/

Answer 3

v. to accuse someone of sth.

Question 4

cursory

/ˈkɜrsəri/

Answer 4

adj. hasty; superficial
- To give a book a cursory reading is to skim it quickly without comprehending much.
- The cursor on Dave’s computer made a cursory sweep across the data as he scrolled down the page.
To make a cursory attempt at learning French is to memorize a couple of easy words and then give up.

Question 5

curtail

/kərˈteɪl/

Answer 5

v. to shorten; to cut short
- The vet curtailed his effort to cut the cat’s tail with the lawn mower. That is, he stopped trying.
To curtail a tale is to cut it short.

Question 6

cynic

/ˈsɪnɪk/

Answer 6

n. one who deeply distrusts human nature; one who believes humans are motivated by selfishness
- When the pop star gave a million dollars to the museum, cynics said he was merely trying to buy himself a reputation as a cultured person.
To be cynical is to be extremely suspicious of the motivations of other people.
Cynicism is general grumpiness and pessimism about human nature.