Vocab #6 Flashcards
Crestfallen
(adj) Dejected; dispirited; discouraged. Having a drooping crest or head.
• “I don’t remember this cliff,” said Jack, crestfallen, “so this must be the bit of the coast I missed.”
Impervious
(adj) Not permitting penetration or passage; impenetrable: The coat is impervious to rain. Incapable of being injured or impaired: impervious to wear and tear.
Incapable of being influenced, persuaded, or affected: impervious to reason; impervious to
another’s suffering.
• “So they sat, the rocking, tapping, impervious Roger and Ralph, fuming; round them the close sky was loaded with stars, save where the mountain punched up a hole of blackness.”
Rebuke
(v – with object) To express sharp, stern disapproval of; reprove; reprimand.
(n) Sharp, stern disapproval; reproof; reprimand.
• “Piggy gave up the attempt to rebuke Ralph.”
Demure
(adj) Characterized by shyness and modesty; reserved.
Affectedly or coyly decorous, sober, or sedate.
• “Each of them [Jack & Roger] wore the remains of a black cap and ages ago they had stood in two demure rows and their voices had been the song of angels.”
Corpulent
(adj) Large or bulky of body; portly; stout; fat. with a large, bulky body
• “Then as the blue material of the parachute collapsed the corpulent figure would bow forward, sighing, and the flies settle once more.”
Deride
(v – with object) To laugh at in scorn or contempt; scoff or jeer at; mock.
• (noun form) “Piggy once more was the center of social derision so that everyone felt cheerful and normal.”
Myopia
(n) Nearsightedness. Lack of foresight or discernment; obtuseness.
Narrow-mindedness; intolerance.
• “The twins watched anxiously and Piggy sat expressionless behind the luminous wall of
his myopia.”
Ensconce
(v – used with object) Settle securely or snugly: I found her in the library, ensconced in an armchair. To cover or shelter; hide securely.
• “At first the twisted stems, ensconce himself so deep that only a crawler like himself could come through, and that crawler would be jabbed.”
Embroil
(v – with object) To bring into discord or conflict; involve in contention or strife.
To throw into confusion; complicate.
• “Piggy, finding himself uncomfortably embroiled, slid the conch to Ralph’s knees and sat down.”
Loll
(v – used with an object) to recline or lean in a relaxed, lazy, or indolent manner; lounge: to loll on a sofa.
To hang loosely; droop; dangle: The dog stood in the heat with his tongue lolling out of his mouth.
To allow to hang, droop, or dangle.
• “Ralph lolled in the water.”
Mirage
(n) An optical phenomenon, especially in the desert or at sea, by which the image of some object appears displaced above, below, or to one side of its true position as a result of spatial variations of the index of refraction of air.
Something illusory, without substance or reality.
• “Sleep enveloped him like the swathing mirages that were wrestling with the brilliance of the lagoon. “
Opaque
(adj) Not transparent or translucent; impenetrable to light; not allowing light to pass through. Not transmitting radiation, sound, heat, etc. Not shining or bright; dark; dull.
Hard to understand; not clear or lucid; obscure: The problem remains opaque despite explanations. Dull, stupid, or unintelligent.
• “The opaque, mad look came into his eyes again.”
Iridescent
(adj) Displaying a play of lustrous colors like those of the rainbow.
(n) An iridescent cloth, material, or other substance: new fall dresses of imported iridescents.
• “They were black and iridescent green and without number; and in front of Simon, the Lord of the Flies hung on his stick and grinned.”
Vex
(v) To irritate; annoy; provoke: His noisy neighbors often vexed him.
To torment; trouble; distress; plague; worry: Lack of money vexes many.
To discuss or debate (a subject, question, etc.) with vigor or at great length: to vex a question endlessly without agreeing.
To disturb by motion; stir up; toss about.
To afflict with physical pain.
• “He was vexed to find how little he thought like a grownup and sighed again.”
Truculent
(adj) Fierce; cruel; savagely brutal. Brutally harsh; vitriolic; scathing: his truculent criticism of her work. Aggressively hostile; belligerent.
• “Truculently they squared up to each other but kept just out of fighting distance”
