LITERATURE: Leo Tolstoy Flashcards
very great, or the best: It was in his eyes, the {…} medium by which we can get to know others
supreme
to fall or drop heavily: He {…}ed at university.
flop
to risk money, for example in a game or on a horse race: He spent a few years {…}ing and drinking and chasing gypsy women before signing on as an artillery officer in the Crimean War.
gamble
the state or period of being a baby, or fig. the early stage of growth or development of something: They had 13 children, 9 of whom survived {…}.
infancy
expressing a lot of hate and anger: There were huge arguments about sex and {…} on both sides.
bitter
in order to help or bring advantage to someone: Tolstoy didn’t believe in the idea of art for art’s {…}.
sake
too quick to criticize people: He was deeply invested in the belief that good art should make us less moralistic and {…}.
judgmental
relating to or denoting a type of personality or behaviour characterized by the avoidance of intimacy or social interaction. But is also rather emotionally remote and {…}.
avoidant
to be affected by someone in a strong and often negative way: Natasha meets a handsome cynical waster called Anatole and {…} {…} his {…}.
falls under his spell
believing that people are motivated by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity. Natasha meets a handsome {…} waster called Anatole and falls under his spell.
cynical ˈsinək(ə)l
to make someone feel attracted to you and want to have sex with you, often someone younger or less experienced: He almost manages to {…} her and persuades her to run away with him.
seduce
having strong feelings of shock or disapproval: Everyone is {…} and furious with Natasha.
appalled /əˈpɔːld/
to destroy or badly damage something: This sort of madness {…} her own prospects and deeply shames her family.
wrecks
to meet someone unexpectedly: If we {…}ed a news clip about such a person, we might rapidly come to the conclusion that she lies beyond the range of normal sympathy.
encountered
to take or move out or back, or to remove: And yet Tolstoy’s view is that if we grasp what things are like for Natasha inside her mind, we can’t and won’t {…} our sympathy.
withdraw
allowing yourself to have or do anything that you enjoy: She isn’t in truth {…}-{…}, frivolous or totally lacking in devotion.
self-indulgent
behaving in a silly way and not taking anything seriously: She isn’t in truth self-indulgent, {…} or totally lacking in devotion.
frivolous
loyalty and love or care for someone or something: He inspired respect and {…} from his pupils.
devotion
thinking or worrying about something too much: She’s just a sexually inexperienced young woman who feels abandoned by her {…} boyfriend.
preoccupied
to cause someone to become very excited and to lose control: to become so excited about something that you do not control what you say or do: She is someone who has a deeply impulsive and warm nature and is easily {…}ed {…} {…} joy and happiness.
carried away by…
completely or extremely: She is also {…} worried about letting other people down, which is what leads her into trouble with the scheming and manipulative Anatole.
acutely /əˈkjuːt.li/
having height or width or length, but not two or all of these: if we more accurately saw the inner lives of others, they couldn’t appear to us in the normal cold and {…}-{…} way, and we would treat them with the kindness which they truly need and deserve.
one-dimensional
full of life and energy; active and outgoing. The novel, a tragedy, tells the story of the beautiful, clever, {…} and generous-hearted married Anna.
lively /ˈlaɪv.li/
excellent, or beautiful and impressive: We had {…} food/a {…} holiday/{…} weather. whose life falls apart when she falls in love with Vronsky, a {…} young cavalry officer.
splendid
aware of something/to notice that a particular thing or person exists or is present: Karenin is a fussy, status-{…}, mannered high-ranking government official.
conscious /ˈkɒn.ʃəs/
not easily satisfied, or having very high standards about particular things: All my children were {…} eaters. Karenin is a {…}, status-conscious, mannered high-ranking government official.
fussy
unkind, cruel, and without sympathy or feeling for other people: Karenin, who is often {…} towards Anna and unable to answer any of her emotional yearnings.
callous /ˈkæl.əs/
a strong feeling of wishing for something, especially something that you cannot have or get easily: Karenin, who is often callous towards Anna and unable to answer any of her emotional {…}s.
yearning
reputation, rank, or position in an area of activity, system, or organization: it might lead to social gossip which could undermine his public {…}.
standing
to behave in a way that makes people believe that you have a particular characteristic: He {…} {…} as simply cold and brutish.
come across
rough, unpleasant, and often violent: He comes across as simply cold and {…}.
brutish /ˈbruː.tɪʃ/
to cry: But then Anna gives birth to her lover’s child,
she is ill, and in a highly touching scene, Karenin is deeply moved, {…} for the infant, for the mother, and forgives Anna.
weeps
extremely or completely happy: And yet he suddenly felt a {…} spiritual condition that gave him all at once a new happiness he had never known: a glad feeling of love and forgiveness for his enemies filled his heart.
blissful
He knelt down, and laying his head in the curve of Anna’s arm; he {…} like a little child.
sobbed from the verb (to sob)
having or showing reason and good judgment in making decisions: Thanks to the {…} Tolstoy, we see entirely unexpected aspects of the man.
judicious dʒuːˈdɪʃ.əs
slightly unpleasant or worrying so that you do not want to get involved in any way: It is highly usual for rather {…}-{…} people to have huge reserves of buried tenderness, to have dimensions to their characters very different from and often much nicer than those that their forbidding appearance suggests.
off-putting
easily annoyed: He’s short and {…}-{…} back.
ill-tempered
very well; excellently. As a {…} skilled and seductive writer,
supremely
to understand something, especially something difficult: And yet Tolstoy’s view is that if we {…} what things are like for Natasha inside her mind, we can’t and won’t withdraw our sympathy.
grasp
