Read this excerpt from "The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane: It is fair to say here that there was not a lifesaving station within twenty miles in either direction, but the men did not know this fact and in consequence they made dark and opprobrious remarks concerning the eyesight of the nation's lifesavers. Four scowling men sat in the dinghy and surpassed records in the invention of epithets. What is the meaning of the word opprobrious within the context of the excerpt?

C.  Expressing criticism or contempt.

Explanation:

The word "opprobrious" means to criticize or say a bad word about a particular thing. It contains a negative meaning for the given word and is used as a means of expressing scorn or derogatory word about the thing.

In the given passage from The Open Boat by Stephen Crane, the four survivors of the shipwreck were on a lifeboat, hoping and looking for the sight of any help, land or people to be saved. And in their eagerness to be found, they were oblivious to the fact that there was no lifesaving station nearby. And as a result, they blamed the "nation's lifesavers" for their poor eyesight and their inability to see them struggle out in the sea. The author used the word "opprobrious" to state how the four men criticized and expressed their negative feelings about the inability of the men supposed to be out working to save any survivors out at sea.

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explanation:

dramatic irony occurs when the reader/audience knows more about a character's situation than the character does. the one main effect is that it gives the reader a sense of superiority, or detached superiority. the reader not only seemingly discovers what is revealed, but feels superior for doing so.