vocab Flashcards
profusely
1) adverb
2) exhibiting great abundance; bountiful
3) “The flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (738).
boisterous
1) adjective
2) noisily turbulent : ROWDY
3) “School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play” (738).
reprimand
1) verb
2) a severe or formal reproof
civic
1) adjective
2) of or relating to a citizen, a city, citizenship, or community affairs
jovial
1) adjective
2) characterized by good-humored cheerfulness and conviviality : JOLLY
3) “He was a round faced, jovial man and he ran the coal business, and people were sorry for him, because he had no children and his wife was a scold” (739).
perfunctory
1) adjective
2) characterized by routine or superficiality : MECHANICAL
3) “There was the proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory, tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year; some people believed that the official of the lottery used to stand just so when he said or sang it, others believed that he was supposed to walk among the people, but years and years ago this part of the irutal had been allowed to lapse” (740)
interminably
1) adjective
2) having or seeming to have no end
3) “He seemed very proper and important as he talked interminably to Mr. Graves and the Martins” (740).
surly
1) adjective
2) menacing or threatening in appearance 3) “So me and Sugar leaning on the mailbox being surly, which is a Miss Moore word” (196).
ferocious
1) adjective
2) exhibiting or given to extreme fierceness and unrestrained violence and brutality
notion
1) noun
2) an individual’s conception or impression of something known, experienced, or imagined
3) “And Big Butt ain’t got the first notion” (197)
recitation
1) noun
2) the act of enumerating
treachery
1) noun
2) violation of allegiance or of faith and confidence : TREASON
3) “Miss Moore is besides herself and I am disgusted with sugars treachery” (201).
furtive
1) adjective
2) done in a quiet and secretive way to avoid being noticed
3) “Furtive boys in pink shirts hanging about on washday after school” (169).
cowering
1) verb
2) to shrink away or crouch especially for shelter from something that menaces, domineers, or dismays
doctrines
1) noun
2) a principle or position or the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of belief
3) “Hakim-a-barber said, ‘I accept some of their doctrines, but farming and raising cattle is not my style’” (171).
clabber
1) noun
2) sour milk that has thickened or curdled
3) “She jumped up from the table and went over in the corner where the churn stood, the milk in it clabber by now” (171).
dasher
1) noun
2) a device having blades for agitating a liquid or semisolid
3) “‘And I want the dasher, too’” (171).
heritage
1) noun
2) property that descends to an heir
trifles
1) noun
2) something of little value, substance, or importance
3) “‘Oh, well,’ said Mrs. Hales husband, with good-natured superiority, ‘women are used to worrying over trifles’” (821).
disdainful
1) adjective
2) full of or expressing contempt for someone or something regarded as unworthy or inferior
3) “Then, as if releasing herself from something strange, Mrs. Hale began to arrange the dirty pans under the sink which the county attorney’s disdainful push of the oot had deranged” (823).
acquiescence
1) noun
2) passive acceptance or submission : the act of acquiescing or the state of being acquiescent
3) “‘Of course it’s no more than their duty,’ said the sheriff’s wife, in her manner of timid acquiescence” (823).
detained
1) verb
2) to hold or keep in or as if in custody
shabby
1) adjective
2) inferior in quality
indecisive
1) adjective
2) marked by or prone to indecision
scrutinized
1) verb
2) to examine closely and minutely
3) “…Martha Hale now scrutinized that piece, compared it with the dainty, accurate sewing of the other blocks” (827).
apprehensive
1) adjective
2) viewing the future with anxiety or alarm : feeling or showing fear or apprehension about the future
incisively
1) adjective
2) impressively direct and decisive (as in manner or presentation)
3) “‘No, Peters,’ said the county attorney incisively, ‘its all perfectly clear, except the reason for doing it’” (832).
evasion
1) noun
2) a means of evading
facetiously
1) adjective
2) joking or jesting often inappropriately
3) “‘Well, Henry,’ said the county attorney facetiously, ‘at least we found out that she was not going to quilt it’” (834).
pungent
1) adjective
2) sharply painful
3) “My brothers and I would peer into the medicinal herb shop, watching old Li dole out onto a stiff sheet of white paper the right amount of insect shells, saffron-colored seeds, and pungent leaves for his ailing customers” (225).
solemnity
1) noun
2) formal or ceremonious observance of an occasion or event
3) “He then solemnly asked if I had been a very, very good girl this year and did I believe in Jesus Christ and obey my parents” (226).
pawn
1) noun
2) one of the chessmen of least value having the power to move only forward ordinarily one square at a time, to capture only diagonally forward, and to be promoted to any piece except a king upon reaching the eighth rank
benevolently
1) adjective
2) marked by or disposed to doing good 3) “‘Little sister, been a long time since I play with dolls,’ he said, smiling benevolently. I quickly put the box down next to him on the bench and displayed my retort” (229).
retort
1) verb
2) to reply: RETURN
prodigy
1) noun
2) a highly talented child or youth
malodorous
1) adjective
2) having a bad odor
3) “He wore a dark, malodorous suit” (231).
