A Christmas Carol: Chapters 4–5

by Charles Dickens
On Christmas Eve, cruel penny-pincher Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three spirits who show him visions of his past, present, and future. Read the full text here.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–2, Chapter 3, Chapters 4–5

Here are links to our lists for other works by Charles Dickens: David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Hard Times, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities
15 words 6848 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. esteem
    an attitude of admiration
    He had made a point always of standing well in their esteem: in a business point of view, that is; strictly in a business point of view.
  2. latent
    potentially existing but not presently evident or realized
    But nothing doubting that to whomsoever they applied they had some latent moral for his own improvement, he resolved to treasure up every word he heard, and everything he saw; and especially to observe the shadow of himself when it appeared.
  3. scrutinize
    look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail
    Secrets that few would like to scrutinize were bred and hidden in mountains of unseemly rags, masses of corrupted fat, and sepulchers of bones.
  4. extensive
    broad in scope or content
    It was not extensive. A seal or two, a pencil-case, a pair of sleeve-buttons, and a brooch of no great value, were all.
  5. appraise
    estimate the nature, quality, ability or significance of
    They were severally examined and appraised by old Joe, who chalked the sums he was disposed to give for each, upon the wall, and added them up into a total when he found there was nothing more to come.
  6. recoil
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    He recoiled in terror, for the scene had changed, and now he almost touched a bed: a bare, uncurtained bed: on which, beneath a ragged sheet, there lay a something covered up, which, though it was dumb, announced itself in awful language.
  7. disclose
    expose to view as by removing a cover
    The cover was so carelessly adjusted that the slightest raising of it, the motion of a finger upon Scrooge's part, would have disclosed the face.
  8. repress
    conceal or hide
    There was a remarkable expression in it now; a kind of serious delight of which he felt ashamed, and which he struggled to repress.
  9. persevere
    be persistent, refuse to stop
    'Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,' said Scrooge.
  10. intercede
    act between parties with a view to reconciling differences
    'Good Spirit,' he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: 'Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me.
  11. entreaty
    earnest or urgent request
    It sought to free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and detained it.
  12. amends
    something done or paid to make up for a wrong
    Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!
  13. portly
    fairly large
    He had not gone far, when coming on towards him he beheld the portly gentleman, who had walked into his counting-house the day before, and said, 'Scrooge and Marley's, I believe.'
  14. unanimity
    everyone being of one mind
    Wonderful party, wonderful games, wonderful unanimity, wonderful happiness!
  15. feign
    give a false appearance of
    'Hallo!' growled Scrooge, in his accustomed voice, as near as he could feign it.
Created on Mon Dec 09 20:52:07 EST 2013 (updated Thu Jul 17 18:28:58 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.