Question

Read this sentence from Passage 2.

“‘Sorry!’ she said with a tone so sugary that I could feel the insincerity oozing off her cloying smile.” (paragraph 12)

What is the meaning of the word cloying as it is used in the passage?
A. strangely mysterious
B. extremely beautiful
C. excessively sweet
D. deeply genuine

Answer 1

C. excessively sweet

Context words like "sugary" and "insincerity oozing" show the smile is overly sweet to the point of being sickening or fake, not genuine.