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VOCABULARY LISTS > USER LISTS

A Man For All Seasons - Preface 58 words

January 2, 2010 By Tak Shing W. (Ap Lei Chau Hong Kong)
Robert Bolt

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Definitions Notes & Examples Words Only
  1. squander
    spend thoughtlessly; throw away
    Henry VIII, who started with everything and squandered it all,
  2. fortitude
    strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity with courage
    He had the physical and mental fortitude to endure a lifetime of gratified greeds
  3. gratify
    make happy or satisfied
    gratified greeds
  4. monstrous
    distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous
    the monstrous baby whom none dared gainsay
  5. gainsay
    take exception to
    the monstrous baby whom none dared gainsay
  6. archetype
    something that serves as a model or a basis for making copies
    We recognise in him an archetype, on eof the champions of our base nature, and are in him vicarously indulged
  7. vicarious
    experienced at secondhand
    We recognise in him an archetype, on eof the champions of our base nature, and are in him vicarously indulged
  8. indulge
    yield (to); give satisfaction to
    We recognise in him an archetype, on eof the champions of our base nature, and are in him vicarously indulged
  9. piety
    righteousness by virtue of being pious
    Against him stood the whole edifice of medieval religion, founded on piety, but then as moneyed, elaborate, heaped high and inflexible as those abbey churches
  10. moneyed
    based on or arising from the possession of money or wealth
    gainst him stood the whole edifice of medieval religion, founded on piety, but then as moneyed, elaborate, heaped high and inflexible as those abbey churches
  11. heresy
    a belief that rejects the orthodox tenets of a religion
    plagued with many heresies.
  12. dispense
    administer or bestow, as in small portions
    The pope dispensed with the Chistian law forbidding a man to marry his brother's widow
  13. ascend
    travel up, "We ascended the mountain"
    Prince Henry ascended the English throne as Henry VIII
  14. inaccessible
    capable of being reached only with great difficulty or not at all
    The motives for Henry's wish to divorce his wife are presumably as confused, inaccessible and helpless in a King as any other man
  15. barren
    completely wanting or lacking
    she had not been able to provide Henry with a male child and was now presumed barren
  16. heir
    a person who is entitled by law or by the terms of a will to inherit the estate of another
    If that son was to be Henry's heir, Anne would have to be Henry's wife
  17. null
    lacking any legal or binding force
    England asked the Pope to declare the marriage with Catherine null
  18. contravene
    go against, as of rules and laws
    on the grounds that it contravened the Christian law which forbade marriage with a brother's widow
  19. ferment
    cause to undergo fermentation
    To the ferment of a lover and the anxieties of a sovereign Henry now added a bad conscience
  20. befall
    become of; happen to
    The threatened penalty was exactly what had befallen him, the failure of mail heirs
  21. vicar
    a Roman Catholic priest who acts for another higher-ranking clergyman
    Vicar of God
  22. rival
    the contestant you hope to defeat
    The Bishops of Rome had succeeded over the centuries in setting up a rival reign within the reign, a sort of long drawn usurpation
  23. reign
    royal authority; the dominion of a monarch
    The Bishops of Rome had succeeded over the centuries in setting up a rival reign within the reign, a sort of long drawn usurpation
  24. usurpation
    wrongfully seizing and holding (an office or powers) by force (especially the seizure of a throne or supreme authority)
    The Bishops of Rome had succeeded over the centuries in setting up a rival reign within the reign, a sort of long drawn usurpation
  25. reactionary
    extremely conservative
    The economy was very progressive, the religion was very reactionary
  26. progressive
    favoring or promoting progress
    The economy was very progressive, the religion was very reactionary.
  27. inevitable
    incapable of being avoided or prevented
    Setting aside Henry as a colourful accident, the collision was inevitable.
  28. adamantine
    consisting of or having the hardness of adamant
    Thomas More is a man with an adamantine sense of his own self.
  29. encroachment
    any entry into an area not previously occupied
    He knew where he began and left off, what area of himself he could yield to the encroachment of his enemies, and what to the encroachments of those he loved.
  30. orthodox
    adhering to what is commonly accepted
    More was a very orthodox Catholic and for him an oath was something perfectly specific
  31. perjury
    criminal offense of making false statements under oath
    the consequence of perjury was damnation
  32. damnation
    the state of being condemned to eternal punishment in Hell
    the consequence of perjury was damnation
  33. oath
    a solemn promise, usually invoking a divine witness, regarding your future acts or behavior
  34. virtue
    the quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong
  35. inviolable
    incapable of being transgressed or dishonored
    But though few of us have anything in ourselves like an immortal soul which we regard as absolutely inviolable, yet most of us still feel something which we should prefer not to violate
  36. immortal
    not subject to death
    But though few of us have anything in ourselves like an immortal soul which we regard as absolutely inviolable,
  37. transcendental
    existing outside of or not in accordance with nature
    It may be that a clear sense of the self can only crystallize round something transcendental in which case, our prospects look poor, for we are rightlt committed to the rational
  38. epoch
    a period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event
  39. aberration
    a state or condition markedly different from the norm
    How indeed was it possible a man so utterly absorbed in his society, at one point disastrously part company from it? Unless there was some sudden aberration
  40. subservient
    compliant and obedient to authority
    The English Kingdom was subservient to the larger society of the Church of Christ.
  41. metaphor
    a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity
    I took it as a metaphor for that larger context which we all inhabit, the terrifying cismos.
  42. sanction
    official permission or approval
    Terryfying because no laws, no sanctions, no mores obtain there
  43. contemptuous
    expressing extreme contempt
    Cromwell's contemptuous shattering of the forms of law by an unconcealed act of perjury showed how fragile for any individual is that shelter.
  44. poetic
    of or relating to poetry
    a poetic image
  45. delineate
    represented accurately or precisely
    He wears from head to foot black tights which delineate his pot-bellied figure
  46. crafty
    marked by skill in deception
    His face is crafty, loosely benevolent
  47. benevolent
    showing or motivated by sympathy and understanding and generosity
    His face is crafty, loosely benevolent
  48. abundant
    present in great quantity
    But the life of the mind in him is so abundant and debonair that it illuminates the body
  49. debonair
    having a sophisticated charm
    But the life of the mind in him is so abundant and debonair that it illuminates the body
  50. ascetic
    someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline
    only in moments of high crisis does it become ascetic
  51. compassionate
    showing or having compassion
  52. defiant
    boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
    In consequence, Alice More was troubled by and defiant towards her society and her husband
  53. ardent
    characterized by intense emotion
    a beautiful girl of ardent moral fineness
  54. rectitude
    righteousness as a consequence of being honorable and honest
    A stiff body and an immobile face.
  55. immobile
    not capable of movement or of being moved
    A stiff body and an immobile face.
  56. megalomaniac
    a pathological egotist
    Cardinal Wolsey. An almost megalomaniac ambition unhappily matched by an excelling intellect.
  57. levity
    a manner lacking seriousness
    The King. Only the levity with which he handles his absolute power foreshadows his future corruption
  58. indignant
    angered at something unjust or wrong