Scarlet Letter 5-8 Flashcards

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0
Q

Intangible

A

Hard to pin down or identify

“Or by whatever other intangible circumstances there were”

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1
Q

Inscrutable

A

Of an obscure nature

“Dark, inscrutable forest”

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2
Q

Ascetic

A

Practicing great self denial
“anything beyond a subsistence, of the plainest and most ascetic description, for herself, and a simple abundance for her child.”

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3
Q

Imbibe

A

Receive into the mind and retain

“She grew to have a dread of children; for they had imbibed from their parents a vague idea of something horrible”

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4
Q

Insidious

A

Intended to entrap

“Could they be other than the insidious whispers of the bad angel, who would fain have persuaded the struggling woman..”

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5
Q

Contumaciously

A

Stubbornly disobedient

“a mystic sisterhood would contumaciously assert itself, as she met the sanctified frown of some matron”

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6
Q

Aver

A

To declare or affirm solemnly as true

“They averred that the symbol was not mere scarlet cloth, tinged in an earthly dye-pot”

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7
Q

Procure

A

Get by special effort

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8
Q

Despondency

A

Feeling downcast and disheartened and hopeless
“She could recognize her wild, desperate, defiant mood, the flightiness of her temper, and even some of the very cloud-shapes of gloom and despondency that had brooded in her heart.”

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9
Q

Prolific

A

Bearing in abundance, especially in offspring
“They were now illuminated by the morning radiance of a young child’s disposition, but, later in the day of earthly existence, might be prolific of the storm and whirlwind.”

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10
Q

Caprice

A

Sudden desire
“As to any other kind of discipline, whether addressed to her mind or heart, little Pearl might or might not be within its reach, in accordance with the caprice that ruled the moment.”

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11
Q

Inexplicable

A

Incapable of being explained or accounted for

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12
Q

Anathema

A

a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by excommunication
“If the children gathered about her, as they sometimes did, Pearl would grow positively terrible in her puny wrath, snatching up stones to fling at them, with shrill, incoherent exclamations, that made her mother tremble, because they had so much the sound of a witch’s anathemas in some unknown tongue.”

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13
Q

Adverse

A

Contrary to your interests or welfare
“It was inexpressibly sad—then what depth of sorrow to a mother, who felt in her own heart the cause—to observe, in one so young, this constant recognition of an adverse world, and so fierce a training of the energies that were to make good her cause in the contest that must ensue.”

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14
Q

Imperious

A

Having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy
“Often, nevertheless, more from caprice than necessity, she demanded to be taken up in arms; but was soon as imperious to be let down again, and frisked onward before Hester on the grassy pathway, with many a harmless trip and tumble.”

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15
Q

Dauntless

A

Invulnerable to fear or intimidation

16
Q

Extant

A

Still in existence; not extinct or destroyed or lost
“This was a large wooden house, built in a fashion of which there are specimens still extant in the streets of our older towns now moss-grown”

17
Q

Cabalistic

A

Having a hidden or secret meaning

“It was further decorated with strange and seemingly cabalistic figures and diagrams”

18
Q

Burnish

A

Polish and make shiny
“all, and especially the helmet and breastplate, so highly burnished as to glow with white radiance, and scatter an illumination everywhere about upon the floor.”

19
Q

Panoply

A

A complete and impressive array
“This bright panoply was not meant for mere idle show, but had been worn by the Governor on many a solemn muster and training field, and had glittered, moreover, at the head of a regiment in the Pequod war.”

20
Q

Exigency

A

A sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that requires immediate action
“For, though bred a lawyer, and accustomed to speak of Bacon, Coke, Noye, and Finch, as his professional associates, the exigencies of this new country had transformed Governor Bellingham into a soldier, as well as a statesman and ruler.”

21
Q

Expatiate

A

Add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of
“in a loose gown and easy cap—such as elderly gentlemen loved to endue themselves with, in their domestic privacy—walked foremost, and appeared to be showing off his estate, and expatiating on his projected improvements.”

22
Q

Depravity

A

Moral perversion;impairment of virtue or moral principles
““Here is a child of three years old, and she cannot tell who made her! Without question, she is equally in the dark as to her soul, its present depravity, and future destiny! Methinks, gentlemen, we need inquire no further.””