Raisin In the Sun Vocab

Question 1

undistinguished

Answer 1

1) adjective 2) common; nothing special

Question 2

pretense

Answer 2

1) noun 2) pretending or feigning; make-believe; a false show of something 3) “All pretenses but living itself have long since vanished from the very atmosphere of this room.”

Question 2

exasperated

Answer 2

1) adjective 2) irritated; provoked; irked

Question 3

viciously

Answer 3

1) adverb 2) with violence or fury

Question 4

sullen

Answer 4

1) adjective 2) showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve 3) “(with sullen politeness) Yes’m.”

Question 5

vindicated

Answer 5

1) verb 2) cleared of accusation, blame, or doubt

Question 6

proposition

Answer 6

1) noun 2) a suggested plan

Question 7

vengeance

Answer 7

1) noun 2) revenge 3) “He seeked vengeance on his opponent.”

Question 8

tentatively

Answer 8

1) adverb 2) uncertainly

Question 9

futile

Answer 9

1) adjective 2) useless

Question 9

furtively

Answer 9

1) adverb 2 stealthily; in a way that hides motive 3) “(Studying her mother-in-law furtively and concentrating on her ironing, anxious to encourage without seeming to)”

Question 10

tyrant

Answer 10

1) noun 2) dictator; harsh ruler

Question 11

forlornly

Answer 11

1) adverb 2) pitifully; desperately; hopelessly 3) “(RUTH comes in forlornly and pulls off her coat with dejection. They both turn to look at her)”

Question 12

mutilated

Answer 12

1) adjective 2) maimed; damaged 3) “You wear it well … very well … mutilated hair and all.”

Question 13

assimilationism

Answer 13

1) noun 2) belief that minority cultures should be absorbed into a dominant culture 3)

Question 14

insinuatingly

Answer 14

1) adverb 2) with more meaning than is spoken; implied 3) “(Insinuatingly, to her daughter)’

Question 15

haphazardly

Answer 15

1) adverb 2) carelessly

Question 16

arrogant

Answer 16

1) adjective 2) proud; haughty ; cocky

Question 17

eccentric

Answer 17

1) adjective 2) deviating from the norm; strange

Question 18

oppressive

Answer 18

1) adjective 2) tyrannical

Question 19

cliche

Answer 19

1) noun 2) trite or overused expression or idea

Question 20

plaintively

Answer 20

1) adverb 2) sorrowfully; pathetically 3) “RUTH (Plaintively) Walter Lee—why don’t we just try to talk about it …”

Question 21

menacingly

Answer 21

1) adverb 2) threateningly

Question 22

exuberant

Answer 22

1) adjective 2) marked by unrestrained enthusiasm 3) “(And she builds with momentum as she starts to circle the room with an exuberant, almost tearfully happy release)”

Question 23

presumably

Answer 23

1) adverb 2) probably; reasonably supposed

Question 24

rebuff

Answer 24

1) noun 2) blunt refusal 3) “(He starts to kiss her, she rebuffs him again and he jumps up)”

Question 25

revelation

Answer 25

1) noun 2) new information 3) “(This is a revelation to her)”

Question 26

amiably

Answer 26

1) adverb 2) good-naturedly 3) “(Amiably, as he sits himself easily on a chair, leaning forward on his knees with interest and looking expectantly into the newcomer’s face)”

Question 27

ludicrous

Answer 27

1) adjective 2) ridiculous

Question 28

ominous

Answer 28

1) adjective 2) menacing; threatening 3) “In the living room BENEATHA sits at the table, still surrounded by the now almost ominous packing crates.”

Question 29

plunder

Answer 29

1) verb 2) to rob; to loot

Question 30

wrought

Answer 30

1) verb 2) shaped; made 3) “‘How often I have looked at you and said, “Ah—so this is what the New World hath finally wrought …’”

Question 31

monologue

Answer 31

1) noun 2) a long speech by one person

Question 31

epitaph

Answer 31

1) noun 2) inscription on a tombstone 3) “You done wrote his epitaph too—like the rest of the world?”

Question 32

amid

Answer 32

1) adverb 2) among; in the midst of