The Color Purple: List 1

by Alice Walker
In letters to God and each other, two sisters, Celie and Nettie, share the details of their trouble-filled lives in the American South and Africa.

This list covers pages 1–66 in the 1982 edition published by Harcourt.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
15 words 2962 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. dote
    shower with love; show excessive affection for
    Nettie dote on Miss Beasley. Think nobody like her in the world.
  2. nary
    colloquial for 'not a' or 'not one' or 'never a'
    She good with children, Pa say, rattling his paper open more. Never heard her say a hard word to nary one of them.
  3. impish
    naughtily or annoyingly playful
    Well, just look at her, she say sort of impish, turning to look at the child, don’t she look like a Olivia to you?
  4. hospitality
    kindness in welcoming guests or strangers
    We sure do thank you for your hospitality.
  5. maroon
    a dark purplish-red to dark brownish-red color
    Somethin purple, maybe little red in it too. But us look an look and no purple. Plenty red but she say, Naw, he won’t want to pay for red. Too happy lookin. We got choice of brown, maroon or navy blue.
  6. pomade
    hairdressing consisting of a perfumed oil or ointment
    He slick back his hair with pomade, then wash it out again.
  7. plait
    a hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair
    Hair notty but a lot of it, tied up on her head in a mass of plaits.
  8. primp
    dress or groom with elaborate care
    She keep primping in front of the glass, getting the children ready at the same time.
  9. fractious
    stubbornly resistant to authority or control
    He say, Oh, me and that mule. She fractious, you know. She went crazy in the field the other day. By time I got her to head for home I was all banged up.
  10. acquainted
    having fair knowledge of
    Now I see she stumble, tween the two men. She don’t seem that well acquainted with her feets.
  11. grits
    coarsely ground corn that is boiled
    I ast Shug Avery what she want for breakfast. She say, What yall got? I say ham, grits, eggs, biscuits, coffee, sweet milk or butter milk, flapjacks. Jelly and jam.
  12. lavish
    bestow or expend profusely
    I lavish butter on a hot biscuit, sort of wave it about.
  13. glutton
    a person who is devoted to eating and drinking to excess
    Course some folks eat cause food taste good to ’em. Then some is gluttons. They love to feel they mouth work.
  14. muse
    reflect deeply on a subject
    She muse. He not undernourish, she say.
  15. clabber
    raw milk that has soured and thickened
    You got any sweet milk? he ast.
    Got clabber, I say.
Created on Mon Dec 12 10:38:48 EST 2016 (updated Tue Jul 29 11:30:35 EDT 2025)

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