Question

based on the context of each excerpt from f. scott fitzgeralds \winter dreams,\ choose the definition that most closely matches the denotation of the bolded word.
inauspicious, threatening, foreboding
a gloomy, depressed state of mind
to misuse or treat with irreverence
at these times the country gave him a feeling of profound melancholy
—it offended him that the links should lie in enforced fallowness,
haunted by ragged sparrows for the long season. it was dreary, too,
that on the tees where the gay colors fluttered in summer there were
now only the desolate sand - boxes knee - deep in crusted ice. when he
crossed the hills the wind blew cold as misery, and if the sun was out he
tramped with his eyes squinted up against the hard dimensionless
glare
she was watching him closely and the silence was embarrassing, yet in
the crisis he could find no casual word with which to profane the hour

Explanation:

For the first excerpt, the description of the country being dreary, haunted by sparrows, with desolate sand - boxes and cold wind evokes a sense of a gloomy state. "Melancholy" is often associated with a deep - seated, gloomy, and depressed emotional state. So, "a gloomy, depressed state of mind" matches the denotation of "melancholy".
For the second excerpt, the context of not being able to find a casual word to "profane" the hour (in a situation where the silence is embarrassing) implies misusing or treating (the hour, which is a somewhat sacred or special moment in this context) with irreverence. So, "to misuse or treat with irreverence" matches the denotation of "profane".

Answer:

For the first excerpt (with "melancholy"): a gloomy, depressed state of mind.
For the second excerpt (with "profane"): to misuse or treat with irreverence.