Their Eyes Were Watching God: Chapters 15-20

by Zora Neale Hurston
Considered a seminal work of African-American literature, Their Eyes Were Watching God is notable for its strong and independent female protagonist.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Foreword and Afterword, Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–14, Chapters 15–20
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sacrilege
    blasphemous behavior
    According to all Janie had been taught this was sacrilege so she sat without speaking at all.
  2. insensate
    without compunction or human feeling
    Insensate cruelty to those you can whip, and groveling submission to those you can’t.
  3. indiscriminate
    not marked by fine distinctions
    Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion.
  4. seraph
    an angel of the first order
    Behind her crude words was a belief that somehow she and others through worship could attain her paradise — a heaven of straighthaired, thin-lipped, high-nose boned white seraphs.
  5. fanaticism
    excessive intolerance of opposing views
    Beyond her faith was a fanaticism to defend the altars of her god.
  6. profusely
    in very large amounts or quantities; extremely
    Monday morning Coodemay and Sterrett stopped by and begged her pardon profusely and gave her five dollars apiece.
  7. fissure
    a long narrow opening
    The gushing water ran faster. The great body was held back, but rivers spouted through fissures in the rolling wall and broke like day.
  8. preempt
    acquire for oneself before others can do so
    But it was crowded. White people had preempted that point of elevation and there was no more room.
  9. hummock
    a small natural mound
    They passed a dead man in a sitting position on a hummock, entirely surrounded by wild animals and snakes.
  10. privy
    a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
    So far as he’s concerned, all dem he don’t know oughta be tried and sentenced tuh six months behind de United States privy house at hard smellin'.
  11. supplication
    a prayer asking God's help as part of a religious service
    Her arms went up in a desperate supplication for a minute. It wasn’t exactly pleading, it was asking questions.
  12. fitful
    intermittently stopping and starting
    So she was up and dressed when Tea Cake awoke from the fitful sleep that had come to him just before day.
  13. delirium
    state of violent mental agitation
    She noted that even in his delirium he took good aim.
  14. wanton
    unprovoked or without motive or justification
    If you find her a wanton killer you must bring in a verdict of first degree murder. If the evidence does not justify that then you must set her free.
  15. fetid
    offensively malodorous
    The wind through the open windows had broomed out all the fetid feeling of absence and nothingness.
Created on Fri Mar 08 18:43:13 EST 2013 (updated Sun Jul 06 23:57:49 EDT 2025)

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