1984 Flashcards
English 11
furtive
sly, cunning, tricky, dishonest
“He had procured a pen, furtively and with some difficulty.”
nebulous
confused; cloudy; not easily defined
“It happened that morning at the Ministry, if anything so nebulous could be said to happen.”
orthodox
customary or conventional
“In an intellectual way, Syme was venomously orthodox.”
heresy
unorthodox opinion
“Perhaps Withers had been suspected of heretical tendencies.”
drudge
slave-like worker
“Parson is a devoted drudge who helps the Party be stable.”
mutable
changeable, able or likely to change
“Newspeak, doublethink, the mutability of the past.”
myriad
countless; an indefinable great number
“The myriad windows of the Ministry looked grim.”
zealot
fanatic
“Some nosing zealot in the ministry might start wondering why he had been writing.”
pedant
one who excessively displays his learning
“Syme continued to speak with a sort of pedant’s passion.”
sanguine
optimistic and cheerful; confidently hopeful
“For the most part, the letter writers seem sanguine.”
vapid
flat; dull; lifeless
“A sort of vapid eagerness flitted across Winston’s face.”
posterity
future generations
“They were executed, and their fate was recorded in the Party histories, a warning to posterity.”
pugnacious
belligerent; warlike; ready to fight
“The old man straightened his shoulders pugnaciously.”
bourgeoisie
middle class; common
“They are lackeys of the bourgeoisie! Flunkies of the (negative connotation) ruling class!”
prevaricate
to be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information
“If you tell me any lies, or attempt to prevaricate in any way, or even fall below your usual level of intelligence, you will cry out with pain, instantly.”
euphony
any agreeable sounds
“A word which was difficult to utter, or was liable to be incorrectly heard, was held to be ipso facto a bad word; occasionally therefore, for the sake of euphony, extra letters were inserted into a word or an archaic formation was retained.”
dismember
to separate the limbs from the body
“It was in the Park, on a vile, biting day in March, when the earth was like iron and all the grass seemed dead and there was not a bud anywhere except a few crocuses which had pushed themselves up to be dismembered by the wind.”
ambivalent
uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow
“Other words, again, were ambivalent, having the connotation ‘good’ when applied to the Party and ‘bad’ when applied to its enemies.”
premonitory
warning of future misfortune
“A sort of premonitory tremor, a fear of he was not certain what, had passed through Winston as soon as he caught his first glimpse of the cage.”
sanctimonious
excessively or hypocritically conceited; self-righteously superior
“His frog-like face grew calmer, and even took on a slightly sanctimonious expression.”
disseminate
cause to become widely known
“He heard himself promising to lie, to steal, to forge, to murder, to encourage drug-taking and prostitution, to disseminate venereal diseases, to throw vitriol in a child’s face.”
malleable
capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out
“People are infinitely malleable.”
Wheedle
to influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
“On the other hand some of them seemed to be on good terms with the guards, called them by nicknames, and tried to wheedle cigarettes through the spyhole in the door.”
implicate
to bring into intimate and incriminating connection; to show someone is involved in the situation or crime.
“It was easier to confess everything and implicate everybody.”
capitulate
to surrender under agreed conditions; give in; admit defeat
“Indeed, we could not compromise any more without capitulating fully.”
