Across Five Aprils: Chapters 1–2

by Irene Hunt
Jethro Creighton lives on a farm in southern Illinois when the Civil War begins. As he comes of age, the war impacts his family in ways he never could have imagined.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–4, Chapters 5–6, Chapters 7–9, Chapters 10–12
15 words 1305 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. apathy
    an absence of emotion or enthusiasm
    He was mature enough at twenty to appreciate being a hero to a nine-year-old boy; besides that, Jethro’s quick mind and delight in learning had been a source of pleasure for studious young Yale, who had known the frustration of trying to penetrate the apathy and unconcern of a backwoods classroom.
  2. pretext
    a fictitious reason that conceals the real reason
    Matt had made a pretext of needing supplies from town, but she knew that this trip to Newton in the midst of a late planting season would have been unthinkable except for the urgency of getting word from the world beyond their own fields and woods pastures.
  3. exasperated
    greatly annoyed; out of patience
    She had a way of closing her eyes briefly when exasperated as if to reject for at least a second the existence of a folly that she was bound to recognize later.
  4. furor
    a sudden outburst, as of protest
    For months he had moved along the edge of the furor that raged among the adults of his family, of the neighborhood, and even of the church.
  5. inclination
    an attitude of mind that favors one alternative over others
    Jethro, forgetting the lecture to his mother on the inclination of people to select beliefs that bring them most satisfaction, never doubted that if Tom and Eb got their chance to go to war, they’d be back home when it was over, and that it would be shadowy men from distant parts who would die for the pages of future history books.
  6. esteem
    an attitude of admiration
    Matthew Creighton was held in high esteem by his neighbors, and the senseless killing of his daughter stirred up a rage that was heightened by the fact that the whole Burdow family was commonly despised throughout the countryside as a shiftless lot with a bad background.
  7. intervene
    get involved, so as to alter or hinder an action
    But Matt Creighton had intervened, and it was a mark of the respect he commanded in the community that the men listened as he stood for an hour in the icy afternoon pleading with them to keep their hands free of further bloodshed.
  8. unyielding
    stubbornly unwilling to give in
    Jethro had to admit to himself an uncomfortable feeling of anger for both the President and his father; they had not shown the hard, unyielding attitude that he admired in the talk of Tom and Eb and their friends.
  9. sullenly
    in a manner showing a brooding ill humor
    Nancy went on with her work, not sullenly, but so withdrawn that Ellen wearily gave up trying to talk with her and directed all her attention to the small boy.
  10. coveted
    greatly desired
    It was a coveted honor and he accepted it with dignity, looking somewhat like a solemn dwarf as he sat between his father and Bill, his eyes wide beneath the tumble of yellow curls that clung to his forehead and the back of his neck.
  11. rampage
    act violently, recklessly, or destructively
    In an environment where reading was not regarded highly there was something suspect about a young man who not only cared very little for hunting or wrestling and nothing at all for drinking and rampaging about the country, but who read every book he could lay his hands upon as if he prized a printed page more than the people around him.
  12. elicit
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    “We might ha’ had cake and fixin’s though, if Shad had been eatin’ with us,” Tom said, grinning at his sister, who could hardly hold back the pleased smile that mention of the young schoolmaster elicited.
  13. tumult
    violent agitation
    Jethro felt as if he were bursting with the tumult inside him.
  14. vehement
    marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions
    He had sympathized with Tom and Eb, and he had been angered at his father’s command for silence when they grew loud and vehement in their demands for war.
  15. tremulous
    quivering as from weakness or fear
    Her voice was no longer tremulous; it carried the authoritative note sharpened by long years of mothering a large family.
    Compare the example sentence to an earlier line from the book: "Then Ellen’s voice was heard, timid and a little tremulous; farm women didn’t enter often into man-talk of politics or national affairs." When Ellen expresses her thoughts on slavery, her voice is tremulous from fear of being wrong and out of place, but when she tells her sons to stop arguing about war and be respectful during dinner, her voice has strength.
Created on Sat Apr 27 17:06:22 EDT 2013 (updated Wed Jul 23 19:02:55 EDT 2025)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.