Victorian Literature

Dustin H. (United States of America)
Taken from a list of words found in the poetry of Poe.
184 words 378 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. abase
    cause to feel shame
  2. abeyance
    temporary cessation or suspension
  3. abstruse
    difficult to understand
  4. acumen
    shrewdness shown by keen insight
  5. ad libitum
    without advance preparation
  6. addle
    mix up or confuse
  7. admonition
    a firm rebuke
  8. aghast
    struck with fear, dread, or consternation
  9. aigrette
    a long plume (especially one of egret feathers) worn on a hat or a piece of jewelry in the shape of a plume
  10. anomalous
    deviating from the general or common order or type
  11. aperture
    a natural opening in something
  12. apothegm
    a short pithy instructive saying
  13. aquiline
    curved down like an eagle's beak
  14. ardor
    feelings of great warmth and intensity
  15. austere
    of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor
  16. avarice
    reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth
  17. axiom
    a proposition that is not susceptible of proof or disproof
  18. bacchanalian
    used of riotously drunken merrymaking
  19. bauble
    cheap showy jewelry or ornament
  20. beguile
    attract; cause to be enamored
  21. behemoth
    someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful
  22. brocade
    thick expensive material with a raised pattern
  23. buffoon
    a person who amuses others by ridiculous behavior
  24. bugaboo
    an imaginary monster used to frighten children
  25. cadaverous
    of or relating to a corpse
  26. cameo
    engraving or carving in low relief on a stone
  27. caricature
    a representation of a person exaggerated for comic effect
  28. chagrin
    strong feelings of embarrassment
  29. circumlocution
    an indirect way of expressing something
  30. clairvoyance
    apparent power to perceive things not present to the senses
  31. clandestine
    conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
  32. cloister
    residence that is a place of religious seclusion
  33. colloquy
    formal conversation
  34. conflagration
    a very intense and uncontrolled fire
  35. consequently
    as a result
  36. contretemps
    an awkward clash
  37. conundrum
    a difficult problem
  38. corpulent
    excessively large
  39. decorum
    propriety in manners and conduct
  40. decrepitude
    a state of deterioration due to old age or long use
  41. deign
    do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
  42. demur
    politely refuse or take exception to
  43. denouement
    the outcome of a complex sequence of events
  44. derision
    the act of treating with contempt
  45. despotism
    dominance through threat of punishment and violence
  46. disapprobation
    an expression of strong disapproval
  47. discomfit
    cause to lose one's composure
  48. disconsolate
    sad beyond comforting; incapable of being soothed
  49. disinter
    dig up for reburial or for medical investigation
  50. dissimulation
    the act of deceiving
  51. doff
    remove
  52. doggerel
    a comic verse of irregular measure
  53. dogma
    a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritative
  54. dotage
    mental infirmity as a consequence of old age
  55. dyspeptic
    suffering from indigestion
  56. educe
    construe a meaning or elicit a principle
  57. effulgence
    the quality of being bright and sending out rays of light
  58. egregious
    conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
  59. ennui
    the feeling of being bored by something tedious
  60. entrails
    internal organs collectively
  61. epigram
    a witty saying
  62. epithet
    descriptive word or phrase
  63. equivocal
    open to two or more interpretations
  64. erudition
    profound scholarly knowledge
  65. eschew
    avoid and stay away from deliberately
  66. ethereal
    characterized by lightness and insubstantiality
  67. euphony
    any pleasing and harmonious sounds
  68. evanescent
    short-lived; tending to vanish or disappear
  69. evince
    give expression to
  70. exacerbate
    make worse
  71. excoriation
    severe censure
  72. expectorate
    clear out the chest and lungs
  73. expedient
    appropriate to a purpose
  74. expostulation
    an exclamation of protest, opposition, or criticism
  75. fastidious
    giving careful attention to detail
  76. felicity
    pleasing and appropriate manner or style
  77. fete
    an elaborate party, often outdoors
  78. fetid
    offensively malodorous
  79. filigree
    delicate and intricate ornamentation
  80. fortnight
    a period of fourteen consecutive days
  81. frieze
    an ornament consisting of a horizontal sculptured band
  82. gainsay
    take exception to
  83. gaze
    a long fixed look
  84. gesticulation
    a deliberate and vigorous motion of the hands or body
  85. glutinous
    having the sticky properties of an adhesive
  86. gossamer
    a gauze fabric with an extremely fine texture
  87. grandiloquent
    lofty in style
  88. harangue
    a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion
  89. hauteur
    overbearing pride with a superior manner toward inferiors
  90. hypocritical
    professing feelings or virtues one does not have
  91. idiom
    expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from its words
  92. idiosyncrasy
    a behavioral attribute peculiar to an individual
  93. imbibe
    take in liquids
  94. imbue
    spread or diffuse through
  95. immolation
    killing or offering as a sacrifice
  96. impunity
    exemption from punishment or loss
  97. incipient
    only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
  98. ineffable
    defying expression or description
  99. inimitable
    matchless
  100. juxtaposition
    the act of positioning close together
  101. laconic
    brief and to the point
  102. lethargic
    deficient in alertness or activity
  103. manumit
    free from slavery or servitude
  104. mendicant
    a pauper who lives by begging
  105. metaphor
    a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
  106. mien
    a person's appearance, manner, or demeanor
  107. moiety
    one of two approximately equal parts
  108. mollify
    cause to be more favorably inclined
  109. monastic
    relating to life in an isolated religious community
  110. morass
    a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
  111. necromancy
    conjuring up the dead, especially for prophesying
  112. nonplussed
    filled with bewilderment
  113. obstreperous
    noisily and stubbornly defiant
  114. obtuse
    of an angle, between 90 and 180 degrees
  115. palliative
    moderating pain or sorrow by making it easier to bear
  116. pallid
    pale, as of a person's complexion
  117. paradox
    a statement that contradicts itself
  118. parallelogram
    a quadrilateral whose opposite sides are parallel and equal
  119. paroxysm
    a sudden uncontrollable attack
  120. partisan
    a fervent and even militant proponent of something
  121. patrician
    a person of refined upbringing and manners
  122. pendulous
    hanging loosely or bending downward
  123. peregrination
    traveling or wandering around
  124. pernicious
    exceedingly harmful
  125. petulantly
    in an easily irritated or annoyed manner
  126. phantasmagoric
    characterized by fantastic and incongruous imagery
  127. physiognomy
    the human face
  128. placid
    calm and free from disturbance
  129. plebeian
    of or associated with the great masses of people
  130. prodigious
    great in size, force, extent, or degree
  131. promulgate
    state or announce
  132. propitious
    presenting favorable circumstances
  133. punctilious
    marked by precise accordance with details
  134. paean
    a hymn of praise
  135. quaff
    swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught
  136. raconteur
    a person skilled in telling anecdotes
  137. rapture
    a state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion
  138. revel
    take delight in
  139. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
  140. rheum
    a watery discharge from the mucous membranes
  141. ruminate
    reflect deeply on a subject
  142. runic
    relating to characters from an ancient alphabet
  143. sagacious
    acutely insightful and wise
  144. sagacity
    the trait of having wisdom and good judgment
  145. sanctimonious
    excessively or hypocritically pious
  146. sanguine
    confidently optimistic and cheerful
  147. sarcophagus
    a stone coffin, usually bearing sculpture or inscriptions
  148. sate
    fill to contentment
  149. satyr
    one of a class of woodland deities
  150. scintillating
    having brief brilliant points or flashes of light
  151. scruples
    motivation deriving from ethical or moral principles
  152. scythe
    an edge tool for cutting grass
  153. sedition
    an illegal action inciting resistance to lawful authority
  154. sodden
    wet through and through; thoroughly wet
  155. soiree
    a party of people assembled in the evening
  156. sojourn
    a temporary stay
  157. soliloquy
    speech you make to yourself
  158. spurious
    plausible but false
  159. suavity
    the quality of being charming and gracious in manner
  160. sunder
    break apart or in two, using violence
  161. supercilious
    having or showing arrogant superiority
  162. surcease
    a stopping
  163. symposium
    a meeting for the public discussion of some topic
  164. taper
    diminish gradually
  165. tintinnabulation
    the sound of a bell ringing
  166. torpid
    in a condition of biological rest or suspended animation
  167. transcendentalism
    a philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual
  168. trepidation
    a feeling of alarm or dread
  169. unequivocal
    admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding
  170. unfeigned
    not pretended; sincerely felt or expressed
  171. vacillating
    uncertain in purpose or action
  172. venerable
    profoundly honored
  173. verdant
    characterized by abundance of vegetation and green foliage
  174. vestige
    an indication that something has been present
  175. viand
    a choice or delicious dish
  176. vicissitude
    a variation in circumstances or fortune
  177. vignette
    a brief literary description
  178. virtuoso
    someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
  179. volition
    the act of making a choice
  180. voluminous
    large in capacity or bulk
  181. vouchsafe
    grant in a condescending manner
  182. waylay
    wait in hiding to attack
  183. wont
    an established custom
  184. zeal
    a feeling of strong eagerness
Created on March 11, 2012 (updated March 21, 2012)

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