Catch-22: Chapters 22–28

by Joseph Heller
In this dark comedy, a World War II bombardier struggles to keep his sanity while following the increasingly dangerous orders of his commanders.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–14, Chapters 15–21, Chapters 22–28, Chapters 29–35, Chapters 36–42
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. confiscate
    take temporary possession of a security by legal authority
    Those planes belong to the syndicate, and everybody has a share. Confiscate? How can you possibly confiscate your own private property?
  2. inveigh
    speak against in an impassioned manner
    Newspapers inveighed against Milo with glaring headlines, and Congressmen denounced the atrocity in stentorian wrath and clamored for punishment.
  3. atrocity
    an act of shocking cruelty
    Newspapers inveighed against Milo with glaring headlines, and Congressmen denounced the atrocity in stentorian wrath and clamored for punishment.
  4. stentorian
    very loud or booming
    Newspapers inveighed against Milo with glaring headlines, and Congressmen denounced the atrocity in stentorian wrath and clamored for punishment.
  5. dogma
    a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritative
    Being an Anabaptist minister in the American Army was difficult enough under the best of circumstances; without dogma, it was almost intolerable.
  6. intolerable
    incapable of being put up with
    Being an Anabaptist minister in the American Army was difficult enough under the best of circumstances; without dogma, it was almost intolerable.
  7. enigmatic
    resembling an oracle in obscurity of thought
    He was disappointed, but not inclined to believe Yossarian, for he had been given a sign, a secret, enigmatic vision that he still lacked the boldness to divulge.
  8. insubordinate
    not submissive to authority
    Before meeting Yossarian, there was no one in the group with whom he felt at ease, and he was hardly at ease with Yossarian, whose frequent rash and insubordinate outbursts kept him almost constantly on edge and in an ambiguous state of enjoyable trepidation.
  9. ostentatious
    intended to attract notice and impress others
    “I couldn’t agree with you more, sir,” he assented briskly in a tone of ostentatious disapproval.
  10. rescind
    cancel officially
    Colonel Cathcart went away from General Dreedle with a gulp and kicked the chaplain out of the officers’ club, and it was exactly the way it almost was two months later after the chaplain had tried to persuade Colonel Cathcart to rescind his order increasing the number of missions to sixty and had failed abysmally in that endeavor too.
  11. harried
    troubled persistently, especially with petty annoyances
    The harried young man rose on one elbow with alacrity as they approached.
  12. comply
    act in accordance with someone's rules, commands, or wishes
    She ordered Yossarian to get right back into his bed and blocked his path so he couldn’t comply.
  13. vitriolic
    harsh, bitter, or malicious in tone
    “Oh, don’t start that again,” Major Sanderson exclaimed with vitriolic scorn, and hurled down his pencil disgustedly.
  14. antagonistic
    indicating opposition or resistance
    You’re antagonistic to the idea of being robbed, exploited, degraded, humiliated or deceived.
  15. asperity
    harshness of manner
    “You?” they replied with asperity. “You’re going with Yossarian. Right back into combat.”
Created on Sun Sep 04 15:09:24 EDT 2016 (updated Tue Jul 29 12:03:42 EDT 2025)

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