Lord of the Flies Flashcards
specious (12)
adj
superficially plausible, but actually wrong.
“Ralph had been deceived before now by the specious appearance of depth in a beach pool and he approached this one preparing to be disappointed.” (Goldings, 12)
effulgence (14)
noun
A state of being bright and radiant, splendor, brilliance.
“With that word the heat seemed to increase till it became a threatening weight and the lagoon attacked them with a blinding effulgence.” (Goldings, 14)
enmity (14)
noun
the state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.
“He [Ralph] trotted through the sand, enduring the sun’s enmity, crossed the platform and found his scattered clothes.” (Goldings, 14).
decorous (15)
adj
in keeping with good taste and propriety; polite and restrained.
“Suddenly Piggy was a-bubble with decorous excitement.” (Golding, 15)
indignation (25)
noun
anger or annoyance provoked by what is perceived as unfair treatment.
“Piggy stood and the rose of indignation faded slowly from his cheeks.”(Goldings, 25).
hiatus
noun
a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process.
“There came a pause, a hiatus, the pig continued to scream and the creepers to jerk, and the blade continued to flash at the end of a bony arm.” (Goldings, 31).
ebullience (38)
noun
the quality of being cheerful and full of energy; exuberance.
“Then, with the martyred expression of a parent who has to keep up with the senseless ebullience of the children, he picked up the conch…” (Goldings, 38).
recrimination (43)
noun
an accusation in response to one from someone else.
“His voice lifted into the whine of virtuous recrimination.” (Goldings, 43).
tumult (43)
noun
a loud, confused noise, especially one caused by a large mass of people.
“He paused in the tumult, standing, looking beyond them and down the unfriendly side of the mountain to the great patch where they had found dead wood.” (Goldings, 43).
Chapter 3
furtive (49)
adjective
attempting to avoid notice or attention, typically because of guilt or a belief that discovery would lead to trouble; secretive.
“Jack himself shrank at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath, and for a minute became less a hunter than a furtive thing, ape-like among the tangle of trees.”(Goldings, 49).
inscrutable (49)
adjective
impossible to understand or interpret.
“Jack lifted his head and stared at the inscrutable masses of creeper that lay across the trail.” (Goldings, 49).
incredulous (53)
adjective
(of a person or their manner) unwilling or unable to believe something.
“They were silent again: Simon intent, Ralph incredulous and faintly indignant.” (Goldings, 53).
belligerence (60)
noun
aggressive or warlike behavior.
“Percival was mouse-colored and had not been very attractive even to his mother; Johnny was well built, with fair hair and a natural belligerence.” (Goldings, 60).
chastisement (60)
noun
a severe criticism or punishment
“In his other life Maurice had received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand.” (Goldings, 60).
incursion (61)
noun
an invasion or attack, especially a sudden or brief one.
“Perhaps food had appeared where at the last incursion there had been none; bird droppings, insects perhaps any of the strewn detritus of landward life.” (Goldings, 61).
disinclination (65)
noun
a reluctance or lack of enthusiasm.
“There had grown up tacitly among the biguns the opinion that Piggy was an outsider, not only by accent, which did not matter, but by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and a certain disinclination for manual labor.” (Goldings, 65).
derisive (86)
Adjective
expressing contempt or ridicule.
“He paused in the tumult, standing, looking beyond them and down the unfriendly side of the mountain to the great patch where they had found dead wood.” (Goldings, 86).
discursive (92)
noun
rambling going from subject to subject.
“The assembly shredded away and became a discursive and random scatter from the palms to the water and away along the beach, beyond night-sight.” (Goldings, 92).
incantation (94)
noun
a series of words said as a magic spell or charm.
“Percival…,lying in the long grass, was living through circumstances in which the incantation of his address was powerless to help him.” (Goldings, 94).
interminable (99)
adjective
endless (often used hyperbolically).
“An interminable dawn faded the stars out, and at last light, sad and gray, filtered into the shelter.” (Goldings, 99).
tremulously (99)
adjective
shaking or quivering slightly. / timid; nervous
“The twins, holding tremulously to each other, dared the few yard to the next shelter and spread the dreadful news.”(Goldings, 99).
leviathan (105)
noun
a great sea monster defeated by God in the Old Testament Book of Job
“Then the sleeping leviathan breathed out, the waters rose, the weed streamed, and the water boiled over the table rock with a roar.” (This is figurative: the leviathan referred to here is a large table rock.) (Goldings, 105).
decorum (110)
noun
behavior in keeping with good taste good etuqitte.
“and yet—hair, much too long, tangled here and there, knotted round a dead leaf or a twig; faces cleaned fairly well by the process of eating and sweating but marked in the less accessible angles with a kind of shadow; clothes, worn away, stiff like his own with sweat, put on, not for decorum or comfort but out of custom; the skin of the body, scurfy with brine— He discovered with a little fall of the heart that these were the conditions he took as normal now and that he did not mind.” (Goldings, 110).
apprehension (113)
noun
anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen.
“Ralph was full of fright and apprehension and pride.” (Goldings, 113).
