1984 Flashcards

English 11

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1
Q

furtive

A

sly, cunning, tricky, dishonest
“He had procured a pen, furtively and with some difficulty.”

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2
Q

nebulous

A

confused; cloudy; not easily defined
“It happened that morning at the Ministry, if anything so nebulous could be said to happen.”

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3
Q

orthodox

A

customary or conventional
“In an intellectual way, Syme was venomously orthodox.”

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4
Q

heresy

A

unorthodox opinion
“Perhaps Withers had been suspected of heretical tendencies.”

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5
Q

drudge

A

slave-like worker
“Parson is a devoted drudge who helps the Party be stable.”

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6
Q

mutable

A

changeable, able or likely to change
“Newspeak, doublethink, the mutability of the past.”

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7
Q

myriad

A

countless; an indefinable great number
“The myriad windows of the Ministry looked grim.”

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8
Q

zealot

A

fanatic
“Some nosing zealot in the ministry might start wondering why he had been writing.”

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9
Q

pedant

A

one who excessively displays his learning
“Syme continued to speak with a sort of pedant’s passion.”

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10
Q

sanguine

A

optimistic and cheerful; confidently hopeful
“For the most part, the letter writers seem sanguine.”

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11
Q

vapid

A

flat; dull; lifeless
“A sort of vapid eagerness flitted across Winston’s face.”

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12
Q

posterity

A

future generations
“They were executed, and their fate was recorded in the Party histories, a warning to posterity.”

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13
Q

pugnacious

A

belligerent; warlike; ready to fight
“The old man straightened his shoulders pugnaciously.”

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14
Q

bourgeoisie

A

middle class; common
“They are lackeys of the bourgeoisie! Flunkies of the (negative connotation) ruling class!”

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15
Q

prevaricate

A

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.”

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16
Q

euphony

A

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.”

17
Q

dismember

A

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.”

18
Q

ambivalent

A

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.”

19
Q

premonitory

A

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.”

20
Q

sanctimonious

A

excessively or hypocritically conceited; self-righteously superior
“His frog-like face grew calmer, and even took on a slightly sanctimonious expression.”

21
Q

disseminate

A

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.”

22
Q

malleable

A

capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out
“People are infinitely malleable.”

23
Q

Wheedle

A

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.”

24
Q

implicate

A

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.”

25
Q

capitulate

A

to surrender under agreed conditions; give in; admit defeat
“Indeed, we could not compromise any more without capitulating fully.”