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F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" Chapters 6-9 242 words

Vocabulary study list for F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" (Chapters 6-9).

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  1. addendum
    textual matter that is added onto a publication; usually at the end
    Yours truly MEYER WOLFSHIEM_

    and then hasty addenda beneath:

    _Let me know about the funeral etc do not know his family at all._
  2. meretricious
    tastelessly showy
    He was a son of God--a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that--and he must be about His Father's Business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty.
  3. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    He fumbled at the embroidered coverlet, trying to take it from the bed, and lay down stiffly--was instantly asleep.
  4. amorphous
    having no definite form or distinct shape
    A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about . . . like that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees.
  5. septic
    of or relating to or caused by putrefaction
    But what had amused me then turned septic on the air now.
  6. turgid
    ostentatiously lofty in style
    The none too savory ramifications by which Ella Kaye, the newspaper woman, played Madame de Maintenon to his weakness and sent him to sea in a yacht, were common knowledge to the turgid journalism of 1902.
  7. suffocate
    deprive of oxygen and prevent from breathing
    "No."

    From the ballroom beneath, muffled and suffocating chords were drifting up on hot waves of air.
  8. ingratiate
    gain favor with somebody by deliberate efforts
    For several weeks I didn't see him or hear his voice on the phone--mostly I was in New York, trotting around with Jordan and trying to ingratiate myself with her senile aunt--but finally I went over to his house one Sunday afternoon.
  9. transpire
    come about, happen, or occur
    It transpired after a confused five minutes that the man had heard Gatsby's name around his office in a connection which he either wouldn't reveal or didn't fully understand.
  10. adventitious
    associated by chance and not an integral part
    Someone with a positive manner, perhaps a detective, used the expression "mad man" as he bent over Wilson's body that afternoon, and the adventitious authority of his voice set the key for the newspaper reports next morning.
  11. gibberish
    unintelligible talking
    Flushed with his impassioned gibberish he saw himself standing alone on the last barrier of civilization.
  12. obtrusive
    sticking out; protruding
    She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented "place" that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village--appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a
  13. euphemism
    an inoffensive or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh
    She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented "place" that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village--appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a
  14. lethargic
    deficient in alertness or activity
    "Wha?"

    A massive and lethargic woman, who had been urging Daisy to play golf with her at the local club tomorrow, spoke in Miss Baedeker's defence:

    "Oh, she's all right now.
  15. extravaganza
    any lavishly staged or spectacular entertainment
    It was this night that he told me the strange story of his youth with Dan Cody--told it to me because "Jay Gatsby" had broken up like glass against Tom's hard malice and the long secret extravaganza was played out.
  16. rectangle
    a parallelogram with four right angles
    Crossing the porch where we had dined that June night three months before I came to a small rectangle of light which I guessed was the pantry window.
  17. exasperate
    make furious
    I tried four times; finally an exasperated central told me the wire was being kept open for long distance from Detroit.
  18. scrutinize
    examine carefully for accuracy with the intent of verification
    But when I'd shouted "Hello" several times in vain an argument broke out behind a partition and presently a lovely Jewess appeared at an interior door and scrutinized me with black hostile eyes.
  19. dilatory
    wasting time
    The dilatory limousine came rolling up the drive.
  20. dangle
    hang freely
    Her hand, which dangles over the side, sparkles cold with jewels.
  21. fumble
    feel about uncertainly or blindly
    He fumbled at the embroidered coverlet, trying to take it from the bed, and lay down stiffly--was instantly asleep.
  22. locating
    a determination of the place where something is
    They had difficulty in locating the sister, Catherine.
  23. corroborate
    give evidence for
    He looked at me anxiously as if he hoped I'd corroborate this.
  24. corrugated
    shaped into alternating parallel grooves and ridges
    A small gust of wind that scarcely corrugated the surface was enough to disturb its accidental course with its accidental burden.
  25. redolent
    having a strong pleasant odor
    There was a ripe mystery about it, a hint of bedrooms upstairs more beautiful and cool than other bedrooms, of gay and radiant activities taking place through its corridors and of romances that were not musty and laid away already in lavender but fresh an
  26. girder
    a beam made usually of steel; a main support in a structure
    Instinct made him step on the accelerator with the double purpose of overtaking Daisy and leaving Wilson behind, and we sped along toward Astoria at fifty miles an hour, until, among the spidery girders of the elevated, we came in sight of the easy
  27. commensurate
    corresponding in size or degree or extent
    Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled in
  28. holocaust
    an act of mass destruction and loss of life (especially in war or by fire)
    It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson's body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete.
  29. pander
    arrange for sexual partners for others
    Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compe
  30. ramification
    a development that complicates a situation
    The none too savory ramifications by which Ella Kaye, the newspaper woman, played Madame de Maintenon to his weakness and sent him to sea in a yacht, were common knowledge to the turgid journalism of 1902.
  31. ashen
    anemic looking from illness or emotion
    A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about . . . like that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees.
  32. fascinate
    to render motionless, as with a fixed stare or by arousing terror or awe
    Gatsby stood in the center of the crimson carpet and gazed around with fascinated eyes.
  33. sparse
    not dense
    His eyes leaked continuously with excitement and when I took the bag and umbrella from his hands he began to pull so incessantly at his sparse grey beard that I had difficulty in getting off his coat.
  34. cymbal
    a percussion instrument consisting of a concave brass disk; makes a loud crashing sound when hit with a drumstick or when two are struck together
    It was full of money--that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it.
  35. grudging
    petty or reluctant in giving or spending
    After a pause he added "sir" in a dilatory, grudging way.
  36. garrulous
    full of trivial conversation
    I suppose there'd be a curious crowd around there all day with little boys searching for dark spots in the dust and some garrulous man telling over and over what had happened until it became less and less real even to him and he could tell it no lo
  37. deranged
    driven insane
    So Wilson was reduced to a man "deranged by grief" in order that the case might remain in its simplest form.
  38. expostulation
    an exclamation of protest or remonstrance or reproof
    The circle closed up again with a running murmur of expostulation; it was a minute before I could see anything at all.
  39. wince
    a reflex response to sudden pain
    He winced.
  40. savory
    pleasing to the sense of taste
    The none too savory ramifications by which Ella Kaye, the newspaper woman, played Madame de Maintenon to his weakness and sent him to sea in a yacht, were common knowledge to the turgid journalism of 1902.
  41. obliterate
    remove completely from recognition or memory
    After she had obliterated three years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken.
  42. swindler
    a person who swindles you by means of deception or fraud
    "Certainly not for a common swindler who'd have to steal the ring he put on her finger."
  43. conspire
    act in unison or agreement and in secret towards a deceitful or illegal purpose
    There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together.
  44. libertine
    unrestrained by convention or morality
    The transition from libertine to prig was so complete.
  45. swivel
    turn on a pivot
    Up in the city I tried for a while to list the quotations on an interminable amount of stock, then I fell asleep in my swivel-chair.
  46. isolate
    place or set apart
    They were gone, without a word, snapped out, made accidental, isolated, like ghosts even from our pity.
  47. babble
    utter meaningless sounds, like a baby, or utter in an incoherent way
    He looked--and this is said in all contempt for the babbled slander of his garden--as if he had "killed a man."
  48. conceivably
    within the realm of possibility
    But conceivably Wilson had heard some of these same explanations before, from Myrtle, because he began saying "Oh, my God!" again in a whisper--his comforter left several explanations in the air.
  49. menagerie
    a collection of live animals for study or display
    "Well, he certainly must have strained himself to get this menagerie together."
  50. vibrant
    vigorous and animated
    He felt their presence all about the house, pervading the air with the shades and echoes of still vibrant emotions.
  51. amaze
    affect with wonder
    It amazed him--he had never been in such a beautiful house before.
  52. baffle
    be a mystery or bewildering to
    Each of us said over and over that it was a "crazy idea"--we all talked at once to a baffled clerk and thought, or pretended to think, that we were being very funny.
  53. harrowing
    extremely painful
    And yet I couldn't believe that they would choose this occasion for a scene--especially for the rather harrowing scene that Gatsby had outlined in the garden.
  54. musty
    covered with or smelling of mold
    There was an inexplicable amount of dust everywhere and the rooms were musty as though they hadn't been aired for many days.
  55. scurry
    to move about or proceed hurriedly
    Wilson's glazed eyes turned out to the ashheaps, where small grey clouds took on fantastic shape and scurried here and there in the faint dawn wind.
  56. distortion
    a shape resulting from distortion
    Even when the East excited me most, even when I was most keenly aware of its superiority to the bored, sprawling, swollen towns beyond the Ohio, with their interminable inquisitions which spared only the children and the very old--even then it had always
  57. unrestrained
    not subject to restraint
    I ejaculated an unrestrained "Huh!" and he must have heard me for he went on nervously:

    "What I called up about was a pair of shoes I left there.
  58. transitory
    lasting a very short time
    Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compe
  59. intermittent
    stopping and starting at irregular intervals
    The prolonged and tumultuous argument that ended by herding us into that room eludes me, though I have a sharp physical memory that, in the course of it, my underwear kept climbing like a damp snake around my legs and intermittent beads of sweat ra
  60. perturb
    disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed
    Tom was evidently perturbed at Daisy's running around alone, for on the following Saturday night he came with her to Gatsby's party.
  61. recede
    pull back or move away or backward
    Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.
  62. brittle
    having little elasticity; hence easily cracked or fractured or snapped
    So when the blue smoke of brittle leaves was in the air and the wind blew the wet laundry stiff on the line I decided to come back home.
  63. murky
    (of liquids) clouded as with sediment
    And last the murky yellow cars of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad looking cheerful as Christmas itself on the tracks beside the gate.
  64. despicable
    morally reprehensible
    Somehow, that seemed a despicable occupation.
  65. florid
    elaborately or excessively ornamented
    I remember the portrait of him up in Gatsby's bedroom, a grey, florid man with a hard empty face--the pioneer debauchee who during one phase of American life brought back to the eastern seaboard the savage violence of the frontier brothel and saloo
  66. elude
    escape, either physically or mentally
    The prolonged and tumultuous argument that ended by herding us into that room eludes me, though I have a sharp physical memory that, in the course of it, my underwear kept climbing like a damp snake around my legs and intermittent beads of sweat ra
  67. stifle
    impair the respiration of or obstruct the air passage of
    The room was large and stifling, and, though it was already four o'clock, opening the windows admitted only a gust of hot shrubbery from the Park.
  68. gruff
    brusque and surly and forbidding
    Simultaneously I heard his voice, gruff, muffled, husky, at the hall telephone.
  69. blurt
    utter impulsively
    He announced that he had a way of finding out whom the yellow car belonged to, and then he blurted out that a couple of months ago his wife had come from the city with her face bruised and her nose swollen.
  70. reverent
    feeling or showing profound respect or veneration
    He drew me into his office, remarking in a reverent voice that it was a sad time for all of us, and offered me a cigar.
  71. complacent
    contented to a fault with oneself or one's actions
    I am part of that, a little solemn with the feel of those long winters, a little complacent from growing up in the Carraway house in a city where dwellings are still called through decades by a family's name.
  72. incoherent
    without logical or meaningful connection
    Presently Tom lifted his head with a jerk and after staring around the garage with glazed eyes addressed a mumbled incoherent remark to the policeman.
  73. protege
    a person who receives support and protection from an influential patron who furthers the protege's career
    The chauffeur--he was one of Wolfshiem's protégés--heard the shots--afterward he could only say that he hadn't thought anything much about them.
  74. rift
    a narrow fissure in rock
    The blind was drawn but I found a rift at the sill.
  75. magnanimous
    noble and generous in spirit
    She looked at Tom, alarmed now, but he insisted with magnanimous scorn.
  76. stagnant
    not growing or changing; without force or vitality
    On the green Sound, stagnant in the heat, one small sail crawled slowly toward the fresher sea.
  77. insidious
    working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
    He had changed it at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career--when he saw Dan Cody's yacht drop anchor over the most insidious flat on Lake Superior.
  78. presumptuous
    excessively forward
    I think he realizes that his presumptuous little flirtation is over."
  79. brakes
    a braking device consisting of a combination of interacting parts that work to slow a motor vehicle
    Tom threw on both brakes impatiently and we slid to an abrupt dusty stop under Wilson's sign.
  80. ineffable
    defying expression or description
    A universe of ineffable gaudiness spun itself out in his brain while the clock ticked on the wash-stand and the moon soaked with wet light his tangled clothes upon the floor.
  81. laudable
    worthy of high praise
    This was his day off and with laudable initiative he had hurried out "to see."
  82. append
    fix to; attach
    "They carried him into my house," appended Jordan, "because we lived just two doors from the church.
  83. notoriety
    the state of being known for some unfavorable act or quality
    Gatsby's notoriety, spread about by the hundreds who had accepted his hospitality and so become authorities on his past, had increased all summer until he fell just short of being news.
  84. pervade
    spread or diffuse through
    There were the same people, or at least the same sort of people, the same profusion of champagne, the same many-colored, many-keyed commotion, but I felt an unpleasantness in the air, a pervading harshness that hadn't been there before.
  85. oblivious
    (followed by `to' or `of') lacking conscious awareness of
    Each night he added to the pattern of his fancies until drowsiness closed down upon some vivid scene with an oblivious embrace.
  86. revolve
    turn on or around an axis or a center
    The touch of a cluster of leaves revolved it slowly, tracing, like the leg of compass, a thin red circle in the water.
  87. flinch
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    But when he heard himself say this, he flinched and began to cry "Oh, my God!" again in his groaning voice.
  88. reassure
    cause to feel sure; give reassurance to
    As we passed over the dark bridge her wan face fell lazily against my coat's shoulder and the formidable stroke of thirty died away with the reassuring pressure of her hand.
  89. marred
    blemished by injury or rough wear
    He put his hands in his coat pockets and turned back eagerly to his scrutiny of the house, as though my presence marred the sacredness of the vigil.
  90. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    He was incredulous.
  91. elevate
    raise from a lower to a higher position
    Instinct made him step on the accelerator with the double purpose of overtaking Daisy and leaving Wilson behind, and we sped along toward Astoria at fifty miles an hour, until, among the spidery girders of the elevated, we came in sight of the easy
  92. rigidly
    in a rigid manner
    Gatsby turned to me rigidly:

    "I can't say anything in his house, old sport."
  93. elusive
    skillful at eluding capture
    Through all he said, even through his appalling sentimentality, I was reminded of something--an elusive rhythm, a fragment of lost words, that I had heard somewhere a long time ago.
  94. benediction
    a ceremonial prayer invoking divine protection
    The track curved and now it was going away from the sun which, as it sank lower, seemed to spread itself in benediction over the vanishing city where she had drawn her breath.
  95. sensuous
    taking delight in beauty
    There's something very sensuous about it--overripe, as if all sorts of funny fruits were going to fall into your hands."
  96. incarnation
    the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc.
    At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.
  97. rustle
    make a dry crackling sound
    The Buchanans' house floated suddenly toward us through the dark rustling trees.
  98. surmise
    infer from incomplete evidence
    From the moment I telephoned news of the catastrophe to West Egg village, every surmise about him, and every practical question, was referred to me.
  99. tangible
    perceptible by the senses especially the sense of touch
    The notion originated with Daisy's suggestion that we hire five bathrooms and take cold baths, and then assumed more tangible form as "a place to have a mint julep."
  100. elicit
    call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
    At any rate Cody asked him a few questions (one of them elicited the brand new name) and found that he was quick, and extravagantly ambitious.
  101. theoretical
    concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations
    The immediate contingency overtook him, pulled him back from the edge of the theoretical abyss.
  102. interminable
    tiresomely long; seemingly without end
    Up in the city I tried for a while to list the quotations on an interminable amount of stock, then I fell asleep in my swivel-chair.
  103. locate
    discover the location of; determine the place of; find by searching or examining
    They had difficulty in locating the sister, Catherine.
  104. authoritative
    of recognized authority or excellence
    Self consciously, with his authoritative arms breaking the way, we pushed through the still gathering crowd, passing a hurried doctor, case in hand, who had been sent for in wild hope half an hour ago.
  105. antecedent
    a preceding occurrence or cause or event
    He told me all this very much later, but I've put it down here with the idea of exploding those first wild rumors about his antecedents, which weren't even faintly true.
  106. tracing
    a drawing created by superimposing a semitransparent sheet of paper on the original image and copying on it the lines of the original image
    The touch of a cluster of leaves revolved it slowly, tracing, like the leg of compass, a thin red circle in the water.
  107. lurch
    walk as if unable to control one's movements
    "And you left him in the lurch, didn't you?
  108. glaze
    a coating for ceramics, metal, etc.
    Presently Tom lifted his head with a jerk and after staring around the garage with glazed eyes addressed a mumbled incoherent remark to the policeman.
  109. straightforward
    pointed directly ahead
    I thought you were rather an honest, straightforward person.
  110. proximity
    the property of being close together
    It occurred to me that he had been very slowly bending toward her all evening to attain this proximity, and even while I watched I saw him stoop one ultimate degree and kiss at her cheek.
  111. traverse
    travel across
    I walked back along the border of the lawn, traversed the gravel softly and tiptoed up the veranda steps.
  112. profusion
    the property of being extremely abundant
    There were the same people, or at least the same sort of people, the same profusion of champagne, the same many-colored, many-keyed commotion, but I felt an unpleasantness in the air, a pervading harshness that hadn't been there before.
  113. barb
    a subsidiary point facing opposite from the main point that makes an arrowhead or spear hard to remove
    In various unrevealed capacities he had come in contact with such people but always with indiscernible barbed wire between.
  114. precede
    be earlier in time; go back further
    With a reluctant backward glance the well-disciplined child held to her nurse's hand and was pulled out the door, just as Tom came back, preceding four gin rickeys that clicked full of ice.
  115. tangle
    twist together or entwine into a confusing mass
    A universe of ineffable gaudiness spun itself out in his brain while the clock ticked on the wash-stand and the moon soaked with wet light his tangled clothes upon the floor.
  116. arrogant
    having or showing feelings of unwarranted importance out of overbearing pride
    Tom's arrogant eyes roamed the crowd.
  117. chafe
    become or make sore by or as if by rubbing
    She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented "place" that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village--appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a
  118. indefinitely
    to an indefinite extent; for an indefinite time
    It might have lasted indefinitely except for the fact that Ella Kaye came on board one night in Boston and a week later Dan Cody inhospitably died.
  119. slander
    words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another
    He looked--and this is said in all contempt for the babbled slander of his garden--as if he had "killed a man."
  120. inexplicable
    incapable of being explained or accounted for
    Her expression was curiously familiar--it was an expression I had often seen on women's faces but on Myrtle Wilson's face it seemed purposeless and inexplicable until I realized that her eyes, wide with jealous terror, were fixed not on Tom, but on
  121. affront
    a deliberately offensive act or something producing the effect of deliberate disrespect
    In this heat every extra gesture was an affront to the common store of life.
  122. exult
    feel extreme happiness or elation
    Tom talked incessantly, exulting and laughing, but his voice was as remote from Jordan and me as the foreign clamor on the sidewalk or the tumult of the elevated overhead.
  123. sparkle
    emit or produce sparks
    They arrived at twilight and as we strolled out among the sparkling hundreds Daisy's voice was playing murmurous tricks in her throat.
  124. turbulent
    characterized by unrest or disorder or insubordination
    But his heart was in a constant, turbulent riot.
  125. distorted
    so badly formed or out of shape as to be ugly
    After Gatsby's death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes' power of correction.
  126. saunter
    walk leisurely and with no apparent aim
    Then they sauntered over to my house and sat on the steps for half an hour while at her request I remained watchfully in the garden: "In case there's a fire or a flood," she explained, "or any act of God."

    Tom appeared from his oblivion as we were
  127. stratum
    one of several parallel layers of material arranged one on top of another (such as a layer of tissue or cells in an organism or a layer of sedimentary rock)
    I don't mean that he had traded on his phantom millions, but he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herself--that he was fully able to take care of her.
  128. ripple
    a small wave on the surface of a liquid
    With little ripples that were hardly the shadows of waves, the laden mattress moved irregularly down the pool.
  129. morbid
    suggesting the horror of death and decay
    "Don't be morbid," Jordan said.
  130. oblivion
    the state of being disregarded or forgotten
    "I'd a little rather not be the polo player," said Tom pleasantly, "I'd rather look at all these famous people in--in oblivion."
  131. gust
    a strong current of air
    Daisy watched him and laughed, her sweet, exciting laugh; a tiny gust of powder rose from her bosom into the air.
  132. automatically
    in a mechanical manner; by a mechanism
    "You must be crazy!" exclaimed Tom automatically.
  133. grudge
    a resentment strong enough to justify retaliation
    After a pause he added "sir" in a dilatory, grudging way.
  134. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
    For a while these reveries provided an outlet for his imagination; they were a satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy's wing.
  135. indefinite
    vague or not clearly defined or stated
    Sometimes a shadow moved against a dressing-room blind above, gave way to another shadow, an indefinite procession of shadows, who rouged and powdered in an invisible glass.
  136. colossal
    so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe
    But he knew that he was in Daisy's house by a colossal accident.
  137. bustle
    move or cause to move energetically or busily
    The quiet lights in the houses were humming out into the darkness and there was a stir and bustle among the stars.
  138. securely
    in a secure manner; in a manner free from danger
    For a while these reveries provided an outlet for his imagination; they were a satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy's wing.
  139. dissolve
    pass into a solution
    You may fool me but you can't fool God!' "

    Standing behind him Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg which had just emerged pale and enormous from the dissolving night.
  140. aesthetic
    concerning or characterized by an appreciation of beauty or good taste
    Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled in
  141. robust
    sturdy and strong in form, constitution, or construction
    The transactions in Montana copper that made him many times a millionaire found him physically robust but on the verge of soft-mindedness, and, suspecting this an infinite number of women tried to separate him from his money.
  142. engross
    devote (oneself) fully to
    So engrossed was she that she had no consciousness of being observed and one emotion after another crept into her face like objects into a slowly developing picture.
  143. ferocious
    marked by extreme and violent energy
    He stayed there two weeks, dismayed at its ferocious indifference to the drums of his destiny, to destiny itself, and despising the janitor's work with which he was to pay his way through.
  144. partition
    the act of dividing or partitioning; separation by the creation of a boundary that divides or keeps apart
    But when I'd shouted "Hello" several times in vain an argument broke out behind a partition and presently a lovely Jewess appeared at an interior door and scrutinized me with black hostile eyes.
  145. chord
    a combination of three or more notes that blend harmoniously when sounded together
    As Tom took up the receiver the compressed heat exploded into sound and we were listening to the portentous chords of Mendelssohn's Wedding March from the ballroom below.
  146. clamor
    utter or proclaim insistently and noisily
    Tom talked incessantly, exulting and laughing, but his voice was as remote from Jordan and me as the foreign clamor on the sidewalk or the tumult of the elevated overhead.
  147. whim
    an odd or fanciful or capricious idea
    As a matter of fact he had no such facilities--he had no comfortable family standing behind him and he was liable at the whim of an impersonal government to be blown anywhere about the world.
  148. superfluous
    more than is needed, desired, or required
    That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.
  149. compress
    squeeze or press together
    As Tom took up the receiver the compressed heat exploded into sound and we were listening to the portentous chords of Mendelssohn's Wedding March from the ballroom below.
  150. abyss
    a bottomless gulf or pit; any unfathomable (or apparently unfathomable) cavity or chasm or void extending below (often used figuratively)
    The immediate contingency overtook him, pulled him back from the edge of the theoretical abyss.
  151. tangled
    in a confused mass
    A universe of ineffable gaudiness spun itself out in his brain while the clock ticked on the wash-stand and the moon soaked with wet light his tangled clothes upon the floor.
  152. legally
    by law; conforming to the law
    James Gatz--that was really, or at least legally, his name.
  153. conceit
    the trait of being unduly vain and conceited; false pride
    The most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed at night.
  154. relinquish
    turn away from; give up
    The child, relinquished by the nurse, rushed across the room and rooted shyly into her mother's dress.
  155. soothing
    affording physical relief
    "You've got to pull yourself together," he said with soothing gruffness.
  156. unprecedented
    having no precedent; novel
    She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented "place" that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village--appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a
  157. distort
    twist and press out of shape
    After Gatsby's death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes' power of correction.
  158. legacy
    (law) a gift of personal property by will
    And it was from Cody that he inherited money--a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars.
  159. concentrate
    make denser, stronger, or purer
    "Well, you come," she urged, concentrating on Gatsby.
  160. adjustment
    the act of making something different (as e.g. the size of a garment)
    It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment.
  161. wan
    become pale and sickly
    As we passed over the dark bridge her wan face fell lazily against my coat's shoulder and the formidable stroke of thirty died away with the reassuring pressure of her hand.
  162. incessant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    I spent my Saturday nights in New York because those gleaming, dazzling parties of his were with me so vividly that I could still hear the music and the laughter faint and incessant from his garden and the cars going up and down his drive.
  163. links
    a golf course that is built on sandy ground near a shore
    Usually her voice came over the wire as something fresh and cool as if a divot from a green golf links had come sailing in at the office window but this morning it seemed harsh and dry.
  164. abrupt
    exceedingly sudden and unexpected
    Tom threw on both brakes impatiently and we slid to an abrupt dusty stop under Wilson's sign.
  165. tranquil
    (of a body of water) free from disturbance by heavy waves
    The afternoon had made them tranquil for a while as if to give them a deep memory for the long parting the next day promised.
  166. partnership
    a cooperative relationship between people or groups who agree to share responsibility for achieving some specific goal
    I wondered if this partnership had included the World's Series transaction in 1919.
  167. forlorn
    marked by or showing hopelessness
    This was a forlorn hope--he was almost sure that Wilson had no friend: there was not enough of him for his wife.
  168. lapse
    drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards
    The straw seats of the car hovered on the edge of combustion; the woman next to me perspired delicately for a while into her white shirtwaist, and then, as her newspaper dampened under her fingers, lapsed despairingly into deep heat with a desolate
  169. astound
    affect with wonder
    He was astounded.
  170. grotesque
    distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous
    The most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed at night.
  171. engaging
    attracting or delighting
    And we all took the less explicable step of engaging the parlor of a suite in the Plaza Hotel.
  172. defer
    yield to another's wish or opinion
    I helped him to a bedroom upstairs; while he took off his coat and vest I told him that all arrangements had been deferred until he came.
  173. physically
    in accord with physical laws
    The transactions in Montana copper that made him many times a millionaire found him physically robust but on the verge of soft-mindedness, and, suspecting this an infinite number of women tried to separate him from his money.
  174. discard
    anything that is cast aside or discarded
    We'd sit for hours----"

    He broke off and began to walk up and down a desolate path of fruit rinds and discarded favors and crushed flowers.
  175. random
    lacking any definite plan or order or purpose; governed by or depending on chance
    It was a random shot, and yet the reporter's instinct was right.
  176. rotten
    having decayed or disintegrated; usually implies foulness
    "They're a rotten crowd," I shouted across the lawn.
  177. oblige
    force somebody to do something
    "We heard you yelling, so I said to Doc Civet here: 'There's somebody that needs your help, Doc.' "

    "She's much obliged, I'm sure," said another friend, without gratitude.
  178. sinister
    stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable
    For all I knew he was going to rob the house in a moment; I wouldn't have been surprised to see sinister faces, the faces of "Wolfshiem's people," behind him in the dark shrubbery.
  179. glisten
    be shiny, as if wet
    He set down the receiver and came toward us, glistening slightly, to take our stiff straw hats.
  180. brisk
    quick and energetic
    As we walked across the moonlight gravel to the porch he disposed of the situation in a few brisk phrases.
  181. expend
    use up, consume fully
    It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment.
  182. investigate
    conduct an inquiry or investigation of
    But I didn't investigate.
  183. verge
    the limit beyond which something happens or changes
    The transactions in Montana copper that made him many times a millionaire found him physically robust but on the verge of soft-mindedness, and, suspecting this an infinite number of women tried to separate him from his money.
  184. beget
    make children
    She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented "place" that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village--appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a
  185. ghastly
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    He had reached an age where death no longer has the quality of ghastly surprise, and when he looked around him now for the first time and saw the height and splendor of the hall and the great rooms opening out from it into other rooms his grief beg
  186. persistent
    stubbornly unyielding
    Contemporary legends such as the "underground pipe-line to Canada" attached themselves to him, and there was one persistent story that he didn't live in a house at all, but in a boat that looked like a house and was moved secretly up and down the L
  187. emerge
    come out into view, as from concealment
    As my train emerged from the tunnel into sunlight, only the hot whistles of the National Biscuit Company broke the simmering hush at noon.
  188. reluctantly
    with reluctance
    Some little boys had come up on the steps and were looking into the hall; when I told them who had arrived they went reluctantly away.
  189. gleaming
    bright with a steady but subdued shining
    She had caught a cold and it made her voice huskier and more charming than ever and Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, s
  190. gorgeous
    dazzlingly beautiful
    Gatsby indicated a gorgeous, scarcely human orchid of a woman who sat in state under a white plum tree.
  191. flap
    move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion
    Michaelis and this man reached her first but when they had torn open her shirtwaist still damp with perspiration, they saw that her left breast was swinging loose like a flap and there was no need to listen for the heart beneath.
  192. transition
    the act of passing from one state or place to the next
    The transition from libertine to prig was so complete.
  193. leak
    enter or escape as through a hole or crack or fissure
    His eyes leaked continuously with excitement and when I took the bag and umbrella from his hands he began to pull so incessantly at his sparse grey beard that I had difficulty in getting off his coat.
  194. sullen
    showing a brooding ill humor
    I see it as a night scene by El Greco: a hundred houses, at once conventional and grotesque, crouching under a sullen, overhanging sky and a lustreless moon.
  195. collapse
    break down, literally or metaphorically
    Wilson's eyes fell upon Tom; he started up on his tiptoes and then would have collapsed to his knees had not Tom held him upright.
  196. rhythm
    an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs
    Through all he said, even through his appalling sentimentality, I was reminded of something--an elusive rhythm, a fragment of lost words, that I had heard somewhere a long time ago.
  197. quotation
    a passage or expression that is quoted or cited
    Up in the city I tried for a while to list the quotations on an interminable amount of stock, then I fell asleep in my swivel-chair.
  198. lavish
    very generous
    He was employed in a vague personal capacity--while he remained with Cody he was in turn steward, mate, skipper, secretary, and even jailor, for Dan Cody sober knew what lavish doings Dan Cody drunk might soon be about and he provided for such cont
  199. catastrophe
    a sudden violent change in the earth's surface
    From the moment I telephoned news of the catastrophe to West Egg village, every surmise about him, and every practical question, was referred to me.
  200. reluctant
    not eager
    Gatsby and I in turn leaned down and took the small reluctant hand.
  201. initiative
    readiness to embark on bold new ventures
    This was his day off and with laudable initiative he had hurried out "to see."
  202. menace
    something that is a source of danger
    Before me stretched the portentous menacing road of a new decade.
  203. foliage
    the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
    Tom and I shook hands, the rest of us exchanged a cool nod and they trotted quickly down the drive, disappearing under the August foliage just as Gatsby with hat and light overcoat in hand came out the front door.
  204. vigor
    forceful exertion
    She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented "place" that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village--appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a
  205. casual
    without or seeming to be without plan or method; offhand
    But what gave it an air of breathless intensity was that Daisy lived there--it was as casual a thing to her as his tent out at camp was to him.
  206. cordial
    politely warm and friendly
    Mr. Sloane didn't enter into the conversation but lounged back haughtily in his chair; the woman said nothing either--until unexpectedly, after two highballs, she became cordial.
  207. lurk
    lie in wait, lie in ambush, behave in a sneaky and secretive manner
    He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand.
  208. aggressive
    characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight
    He was walking ahead of me along Fifth Avenue in his alert, aggressive way, his hands out a little from his body as if to fight off interference, his head moving sharply here and there, adapting itself to his restless eyes.
  209. sway
    move back and forth or sideways
    At first I couldn't find the source of the high, groaning words that echoed clamorously through the bare garage--then I saw Wilson standing on the raised threshold of his office, swaying back and forth and holding to the doorposts with both hands.
  210. dusty
    covered with a layer of dust
    Tom threw on both brakes impatiently and we slid to an abrupt dusty stop under Wilson's sign.
  211. haven
    a sheltered port where ships can take on or discharge cargo
    Then Tom's voice, incredulous and insulting:

    "You must have gone there about the time Biloxi went to New Haven."
  212. sentimental
    given to or marked by sentiment or sentimentality
    You may think that's sentimental but I mean it--to the bitter end."
  213. malice
    feeling a need to see others suffer
    It was this night that he told me the strange story of his youth with Dan Cody--told it to me because "Jay Gatsby" had broken up like glass against Tom's hard malice and the long secret extravaganza was played out.
  214. appall
    strike with disgust or revulsion
    She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented "place" that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village--appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a
  215. despise
    look down on with disdain
    He stayed there two weeks, dismayed at its ferocious indifference to the drums of his destiny, to destiny itself, and despising the janitor's work with which he was to pay his way through.
  216. extinguish
    put out, as of fires, flames, or lights
    Gatsby asked me to wait until he was free and I lingered in the garden until the inevitable swimming party had run up, chilled and exalted, from the black beach, until the lights were extinguished in the guest rooms overhead.
  217. dismay
    the feeling of despair in the face of obstacles
    He stayed there two weeks, dismayed at its ferocious indifference to the drums of his destiny, to destiny itself, and despising the janitor's work with which he was to pay his way through.
  218. desolate
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    We'd sit for hours----"

    He broke off and began to walk up and down a desolate path of fruit rinds and discarded favors and crushed flowers.
  219. fantastic
    extravagantly fanciful in design, construction, appearance
    The most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed at night.
  220. hover
    hang in the air; fly or be suspended above
    The straw seats of the car hovered on the edge of combustion; the woman next to me perspired delicately for a while into her white shirtwaist, and then, as her newspaper dampened under her fingers, lapsed despairingly into deep heat with a desolate
  221. intensity
    high level or degree; the property of being intense
    Over the ashheaps the giant eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg kept their vigil but I perceived, after a moment, that other eyes were regarding us with peculiar intensity from less than twenty feet away.
  222. isolated
    remote and separate physically or socially
    They were gone, without a word, snapped out, made accidental, isolated, like ghosts even from our pity.
  223. sneer
    a facial expression of contempt or scorn; the upper lip curls
    Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions and next they'll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white."
  224. definitely
    without question and beyond doubt
    Daisy looked at Tom frowning and an indefinable expression, at once definitely unfamiliar and vaguely recognizable, as if I had only heard it described in words, passed over Gatsby's face.
  225. wail
    a cry of sorrow and grief
    I became aware now of a hollow, wailing sound which issued incessantly from the garage, a sound which as we got out of the coupé and walked toward the door resolved itself into the words "Oh, my God!" uttered over and over in a
  226. convince
    make (someone) agree, understand, or realize the truth or validity of something
    When they convinced her of this she immediately fainted as if that was the intolerable part of the affair.
  227. brace
    a support that steadies or strengthens something else
    His brown, hardening body lived naturally through the half fierce, half lazy work of the bracing days.
  228. invariably
    without variation or change, in every case
    It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment.
  229. tragic
    very sad; especially involving grief or death or destruction
    Human sympathy has its limits and we were content to let all their tragic arguments fade with the city lights behind.
  230. whistle
    the sound made by something moving rapidly or by steam coming out of a small aperture
    As my train emerged from the tunnel into sunlight, only the hot whistles of the National Biscuit Company broke the simmering hush at noon.
  231. cluster
    a grouping of a number of similar things
    The touch of a cluster of leaves revolved it slowly, tracing, like the leg of compass, a thin red circle in the water.
  232. polite
    showing regard for others in manners, speech, behavior, etc.
    "Oh, yes," said Tom, gruffly polite but obviously not remembering.
  233. uneasy
    causing or fraught with or showing anxiety
    But he would be uneasy anyhow until he had given them something, realizing in a vague way that that was all they came for.
  234. engage
    consume all of one's attention or time
    And we all took the less explicable step of engaging the parlor of a suite in the Plaza Hotel.
  235. stroll
    a leisurely walk (usually in some public place)
    They arrived at twilight and as we strolled out among the sparkling hundreds Daisy's voice was playing murmurous tricks in her throat.
  236. resolve
    find the solution
    I became aware now of a hollow, wailing sound which issued incessantly from the garage, a sound which as we got out of the coupé and walked toward the door resolved itself into the words "Oh, my God!" uttered over and over in a
  237. marvel
    be amazed at
    Perhaps some unbelievable guest would arrive, a person infinitely rare and to be marvelled at, some authentically radiant young girl who with one fresh glance at Gatsby, one moment of magical encounter, would blot out those five years of unwavering
  238. relieve
    free from a burden, evil, or distress
    Half an hour later Daisy herself telephoned and seemed relieved to find that I was coming.
  239. urge
    force or impel in an indicated direction
    "Please don't hurry," Gatsby urged them.
  240. drain
    emptying something accomplished by allowing liquid to run out of it
    "I'm going to drain the pool today, Mr. Gatsby.
  241. invisible
    impossible or nearly impossible to see; imperceptible by the eye
    Sometimes a shadow moved against a dressing-room blind above, gave way to another shadow, an indefinite procession of shadows, who rouged and powdered in an invisible glass.
  242. harsh
    disagreeable to the senses
    Then he made a harsh sound in his throat and with a violent thrusting movement of his powerful arms pushed his way through.