Loch Ness Uncovered: Chapters 1–6

by Rebecca Siegel
In Scotland in the 1930s, a soon-to-be worldwide phenomenon began — the Loch Ness Monster! The history of this now-debunked hoax is filled with intriguing characters, sensational anecdotes, and most importantly, a real-life lesson in the dangers of fake news.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–9, Chapters 10–13, Chapters 14–16, Chapters 17–22
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. opaque
    not transmitting or reflecting light or radiant energy
    Scotland’s frequent rains had washed eons of peat down the surrounding hillsides and into the loch, causing it to be nearly opaque.
  2. revelation
    an enlightening or astonishing disclosure
    Campbell declared that Mackay’s sighting wasn’t some shocking new revelation, but confirmation of a generations-old belief.
  3. confirmation
    additional proof that something that was believed is correct
    Campbell declared that Mackay’s sighting wasn’t some shocking new revelation, but confirmation of a generations-old belief.
  4. aquatic
    operating or living or growing in water
    His column made it seem as though locals had always been on the lookout for such an aquatic creature.
  5. cinematic
    pertaining to or having the qualities of a film
    In 1925, Wetherell came tantalizingly close to cinematic success with a film called Livingstone.
  6. biopic
    a film that dramatizes the life of a well-known person
    Wetherell wrote, directed, and starred in the epic biopic, which told the story of David Livingstone, an explorer, missionary, and abolitionist.
  7. intrepid
    invulnerable to fear or intimidation
    Within weeks, some of these intrepid monster hunters had incredible news. They’d seen the beast, too!
  8. trawl
    fish with nets dragged through deep waters
    The black water stretched endlessly to the east and west. Boats trawled lazily across its wind-rippled surface. White seagulls swooped noisily overhead.
  9. meticulous
    marked by extreme care in treatment of details
    This meticulous process involved posing a model creature in front of a camera and shooting a single frame. Next, an animator would make a tiny change to the model’s position—lifting an arm a millimeter or shifting an eyebrow ever so subtly, before shooting another frame. It was painstaking.
  10. animator
    a technician who produces cartoons on film
    This meticulous process involved posing a model creature in front of a camera and shooting a single frame. Next, an animator would make a tiny change to the model’s position—lifting an arm a millimeter or shifting an eyebrow ever so subtly, before shooting another frame. It was painstaking.
  11. addle
    mix up or confuse
    Ticket holders would walk into a theater and be whisked to another world. Some scientists feared that this immersive experience might addle some brains. Theatergoers might begin to confuse what was real with what was not, dragging the imaginary movie world along with them into their regular lives.
  12. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    Being skeptical of the Loch Ness Monster’s existence wasn’t a very fun position to take. It felt stodgy, boring, and unimaginative. However, plenty of people found themselves firmly on this side of the issue.
  13. stodgy
    excessively conventional and unimaginative and hence dull
    Being skeptical of the Loch Ness Monster’s existence wasn’t a very fun position to take. It felt stodgy, boring, and unimaginative. However, plenty of people found themselves firmly on this side of the issue.
  14. shoal
    a large group of fish
    A well-known boat captain named John Macdonald wrote to the Inverness Courier with a string of objections to the idea of a monster in the loch. He said he’d sailed the loch for fifty years and had never seen, nor even heard of, a monster in its depths. He argued that people were just seeing shoals of salmon rushing the surface.
  15. dredge
    search the bottom of a body of water for something valuable
    Another group of monster hunters attempted to commission a forty-foot-long steel cage from metalworkers in Glasgow, along with steel netting that they’d use to “dredge” the loch for the monster.
Created on Thu Aug 27 19:07:06 EDT 2026 (updated Tue Sep 15 11:19:32 EDT 2026)

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