The scholar's prose is plain to a fault. He distrusts ornament so thoroughly that even the moments where his argument might benefit from a vivid image he keeps austere — as if he feared the reader would mistake decoration for substance.
As used in the text, what does the phrase "to a fault" most nearly mean?
- A
blamefully
- B
geologically
- Ccheck_circle
to an excessive degree
- D
until something breaks
Explanation
The scholar's plainness is praised but only up to a point — he is plain to an excessive degree. Idiomatic "to a fault" means excessively, not the literal breaking, blame, or geology senses.