<p>When pundits and columnists excessively characterize politicians as disingenuous and tainted, the ultimately ----- the political calling.</p>
<p>[A] Incur
** Recant
[C] Circumvent
[D] Exacerbate
[E] Deprecate</p>
<p>I want to know what other people think about this question. My first choice was B but since there isn't an answer key (November 2005) I want support for my answer.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I’d go with E</p>
<p>I think it’s E too. I googled exacerbate and deprecate though. /fail</p>
<p>Your sentence should read “they ultimately…”</p>
<p>Exacerbate and deprecate both have a negative connotation. </p>
<p>However, exacerbate only applies to conditions or situations in the sense of making an already bad situation worse.</p>
<p>Deprecate means to express disapproval of something or someone - the correct sense for this sentence (consistent with “disingenuous and tainted”)</p>
<p>Deprecate.</p>
<p>Recant means to repudiate, to withraw or disavow. I’m guessing your first impression was that recant meant something along the lines of slander.</p>