The critic dismissed the novelist's latest work as ______, arguing that its ornate prose and elaborate metaphors served no purpose beyond the author's own vanity.
Correct: B
Turgid means tediously pompous or monotonous, typically in literary or academic style; it describes writing that is dull, overblown, and unnecessarily elaborate. The critic's complaint about ornate prose serving only the author's vanity perfectly matches turgid. Mellifluous means sweet-sounding, felicitous means apt and well-expressed, and lapidary means polished and precise in expression — none of these convey the negative sense of pompous excess.