Any body please explain the context.

The tokens given by the aristocrat, while nugatory, still served as a re­minder that the power of the Crown continued to be held in some esteem even in such mercurial political times.

explanation: The aristocrat's tokens (symbols of power) , although of not much value (nugatory), reminds that the aristocrat is still respected to some degree in a changing (mercurial) political period. (probably replaced by Democracy or Socialism, for example)

Question:

The tokens given by the aristocrat, while (i) _________, still served as a re­minder that the power of the Crown continued to be held in some esteem even in such (ii)_________ political times.


Explanation:

the word phrases such as "still served", "continued to be held" and "even in such" suggests that what happened was unexpected, if not the exact opposite of what was expected. In other words the actual value of the tokens was in contrast to the effect it was having. So we can say that the value of the tokens was nominal or limited in value.

Therefore, I would say:

The tokens given by the aristocrat, while (i) nominal, still served as a re­minder that the power of the Crown continued to be held in some esteem even in such......

Only nugatory gives a similar meaning. Sumptuous is the exact opposite of what we are looking for, and we don't have any clues to suggest sardonic.


Since a contrast has been setup between the nugatory value of the tokens and the circumstances, I would complete the second half as:

continued to be held in some esteem even in such difficult political times.

Only mercurial, which means unpredictably changing gives the same meaning.

There is nothing funny here, so jocund is eliminated. There is nothing to suggest magisterial (authoritative). So we eliminate it.

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