The Maltese Falcon: Chapters 5–9

by Dashiell Hammett
In this classic of noir fiction, detective Sam Spade is hired to protect a client in her search for a priceless artifact, but as she refuses to tell him the whole truth, the job becomes more and more dangerous.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1-4, Chapters 5-9, Chapters 10-13, Chapters 14-17, Chapters 18-20
15 words 13 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. chagrin
    strong feelings of embarrassment
    Cairo’s face was twisted by pain and chagrin.
  2. demure
    suggestive of modesty or reserve
    Cairo’s smile was demure and not in any way alarmed.
  3. suave
    agreeable and courteous with a degree of sophistication
    His voice was suave now.
  4. composure
    steadiness of mind under stress
    Cairo recovered composure with a little jerk.
  5. loiter
    linger, remain, or wait around for no apparent reason
    The youth loitered with other loiterers before Marquard’s restaurant below.
  6. candor
    the quality of being honest and straightforward
    He replaced his hat carefully on his head and said with every appearance of candor: "I give you my word I do not know him, Mr. Spade."
  7. petulance
    an irritable feeling
    “Well, what did he say?” she asked with half-playful petulance.
  8. appurtenance
    equipment consisting of miscellaneous articles
    He owned his house in a Tacoma suburb, a new Packard, and the rest of the appurtenances of successful American living.
  9. explicit
    precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable
    He had never told anybody his story before, and thus had not had to attempt to make its reasonableness explicit. He tried now.
  10. resignation
    acceptance of an unpleasant but inevitable situation
    Spade said, “That again!” with mock resignation.
  11. mien
    a person's appearance, manner, or demeanor
    Cairo used politeness of mien to express skepticism.
  12. malicious
    having the nature of threatening evil
    When his gaze met hers his yellow-grey eyes glinted for an instant with malicious humor and then became expressionless again.
  13. vitality
    an energetic style
    There was no vitality in his smile, but he held it fixed on his face.
  14. truculence
    stubborn and defiant aggressiveness
    Dundy’s fists were clenched in front of his body and his feet were planted firm and a little apart on the floor, but the truculence in his face was modified by thin rims of white showing between green irises and upper eyelids.
  15. candid
    characterized by directness in manner or speech
    She stopped frowning at her knees and looked at Spade with clear candid eyes.
Created on Thu Jan 08 08:53:18 EST 2026 (updated Fri Jan 09 11:33:37 EST 2026)

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