1984: Part One: Chapters 5–8

by George Orwell
Published in 1949, this dystopian classic imagines a future of perpetual war, militaristic propaganda, and total government surveillance.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part One: Chapters 1–4, Part One: Chapters 5–8, Part Two: Chapters 1–5, Part Two: Chapters 6–10, Part Three, Appendix–Afterword

Here are links to our lists for other works by George Orwell: Politics and the English Language, Shooting an Elephant, Animal Farm
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. inextricably
    in a manner incapable of being disentangled or untied
    Only the proles used scent. In his mind the smell of it was inextricably mixed up with fornication.
  2. tacitly
    by unexpressed agreement
    Tacitly the Party was even inclined to encourage prostitution, as an outlet for instincts which could not be altogether suppressed.
  3. impregnable
    incapable of being overcome, challenged, or refuted
    They were all impregnable, as the Party intended that they should be.
    The given definition is intended by the example sentence and supported by this: "And what he wanted more even than to be loved, was to break down that wall of virtue, even if it were only once in his whole life." The Party intends for women to put up a figurative wall that's impregnable, but once married, women need to be impregnable in an additional literal way ("capable of conceiving") in order to keep the Party going.
  4. conspire
    engage in plotting, swear together
    But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire.
    In Latin, "com" and "spirare" mean "to breathe together"--this sense of innocent cooperation is not intended by the example sentence. "Conspire" is used negatively to focus on the secret planning of a conspiracy. Winston wants the proles to work and breathe together to overthrow the Party, and he thinks that they can do so without a conspiracy because the strength in their numbers would allow them to act openly and at once.
  5. reverberation
    an echo
    It was a great formidable cry of anger and despair, a deep loud “Oh-o-o-o-oh!” that went humming on like the reverberation of a bell.
  6. subjection
    forced submission to control by others
    But simultaneously, true to the principles of doublethink, the Party taught that the proles were natural inferiors who must be kept in subjection, like animals, by the application of a few simple rules.
  7. indoctrinate
    teach uncritically
    A few agents of the Thought Police moved always among them, spreading false rumors and marking down and eliminating the few individuals who were judged capable of becoming dangerous; but no attempt was made to indoctrinate them with the ideology of the Party.
  8. racketeer
    someone who commits crimes for profit
    There was a vast amount of criminality in London, a whole world-within-a-world of thieves, bandits, prostitutes, drug peddlers, and racketeers of every description; but since it all happened among the proles themselves, it was of no importance.
  9. sinecure
    a job that involves minimal duties
    After confessing to these things they had been pardoned, reinstated in the Party, and given posts which were in fact sinecures but which sounded important.
    The Medieval Latin phrase "sine cura" means "without cure of souls"--this connects to its original use to describe a church position that does not require spiritual duties. Since curing souls used to be seen as difficult and important work, a sinecure was in contrast an easy, less useful job. Because the Party needs its members to feel like they are part of something useful and important, it would not give sinecures to anyone whom it was planning to keep.
  10. palpable
    capable of being perceived
    “If there is hope,” he had written in the diary, “it lies in the proles.” The words kept coming back to him, statement of a mystical truth and a palpable absurdity.
  11. sordid
    foul and run-down and repulsive
    Within three or four minutes he was out of the area which the bomb had affected, and the sordid swarming life of the streets was going on as though nothing had happened.
    "Sordid" also means "morally degraded"--both definitions fit Winston's observations of the proles on the streets, which include ragged, barefoot children playing in puddles and drunken men violently arguing about the Lottery.
  12. altercation
    a noisy, angry argument or fight between people
    He was a few paces away from them when suddenly the group broke up and two of the men were in violent altercation.
  13. anodyne
    a medicine used to relieve pain
    It was probable that there were some millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant.
  14. tentatively
    in a hesitant manner
    “You must have seen great changes since you were a young man,” said Winston tentatively.
  15. lassitude
    weakness characterized by a lack of vitality or energy
    A deadly lassitude had taken hold of him.
Created on Mon Mar 03 10:47:26 EST 2014 (updated Tue Jul 01 14:29:03 EDT 2025)

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