Answer: The word that best characterizes the Pardoner in this passage is hypocritical.
Explanation:
The Pardoner's tale is one of the 24 stories included in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The Pardoner is presented as cynical in the story. He sells indulgences only with a purpose to gain money. He travels through the countryside and sells pardons while showing off fake relics. The Pardoner is against avarice, but as it turns out, he himself commits this sin. He, therefore, pretends to hold onto certain moral values, but does not behave in accordance with these values. This makes him hypocritical. Through his character, Chaucer criticizes greed and corruption present in the church.
