Question

Read the following excerpt from Theodore Dreiser's "My Brother Paul." Based on its context in the excerpt, what is the meaning of the word lithesome?
A-nimble
B-smooth
C-disordered
D-enlightened
E-active

Imagine, if you can, a man weighing all of three hundred pounds, not more than five feet ten-and-one-half inches in height and yet of so lithesome a build that he gave not the least sense of either undue weight or lethargy. His temperament, always ebullient and radiant, presented him as a clever, eager, cheerful, emotional and always highly illusioned person with so collie-like a warmth that one found him compelling interest and even admiration. Easily cast down at times by the most trivial matters, at others, and for the most part, he was so spirited and bubbly and emotional and sentimental that your fiercest or most gloomy intellectual rages or moods could scarcely withstand his smile.

Answer 1

Answer:

answer is A

Explanation:

nimble means quick and light in movement or action; agile

(of the mind) quick to comprehend. it also means flexable

Lithesome describes something that's graceful and flexible, like a ballet dancer or a willow tree bending in the wind. Use the adjective lithesome when you need a delicate word to describe a person or thing that bends and turns easily, whether it's a jaguar in the jungle or a young gymnast on a balance beam.

Answer 2

Comment
what he is describing is a man who has physical properties that put him on this side of athletic and Paul's psychology matches the "aliveness" of his physical attributes.

The paragraph is divided into 3 parts.
1. his physical characteristics. How he moves, his height a hint at his weight
2. his psychology which is described in the middle as bubbly and spirited.
3. his effect on others.

Answer
The word you want is in the first section -- lithesome.
The word means the same thing as nimble. It is quite a surprising word, because you would not expect him to be nimble.

Nimble means physically light in action. Think of a ballet dancer as being nimble. 

Answer A <<<<<