Sentence:  Gunny symbolized so much that <WSD>was</WSD> unpleasant - Tolley , the indifference with which the Fairbrothers and indeed the whole neighborhood now treated her and which she would die rather than acknowledge to her husband , his lack of understanding and sympathy in her present condition , her disgusting swollen stomach . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)