Nine Stories: "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" by J.D. Salinger

by J.D. Salinger
Seymour Glass, a young combat veteran haunted by his experiences during World War II, visits a seaside hotel with his wife Muriel. Learn these words from the first story in J.D. Salinger's Nine Stories.

Here are links to our lists for other short stories in Nine Stories: A Perfect Day for Bananafish,
Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, Just Before the War with the Eskimos, The Laughing Man, Down at the Dinghy, For Esmé–with Love and Squalor, Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes, De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period, Teddy

Here is a link to our lists for J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye.
35 words 680 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. monopolize
    have or exploit an exclusive control of something
    There were ninety-seven New York advertising men in the hotel, and, the way they were monopolizing the long-distance lines, the girl in 507 had to wait from noon till almost two-thirty to get her call through.
  2. beige
    of a light grayish-brown color
    She took the spot out of the skirt of her beige suit.
  3. continual
    occurring without interruption
    She looked as if her phone had been ringing continually ever since she had reached puberty.
  4. puberty
    the time of life when one becomes capable of having children
    She looked as if her phone had been ringing continually ever since she had reached puberty.
  5. accentuate
    stress or single out as important
    With her little lacquer brush, while the phone was ringing, she went over the nail of her little finger, accentuating the line of the moon.
  6. congest
    become or cause to become obstructed
    With her dry hand, she picked up a congested ashtray from the window seat and carried it with her over to the night table, on which the phone stood.
  7. incidentally
    by the way (used to introduce a new topic)
    “I said he drove very nicely, Mother. Now, please. I asked him to stay close to the white line, and all, and he knew what I meant, and he did. He was even trying not to look at the trees—you could tell. Did Daddy get the car fixed, incidentally?”
  8. tramp
    a disreputable vagrant
    “All right, all right. He calls me Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948,” the girl said, and giggled.
  9. translation
    rendering in another language with the same meaning
    He said that the poems happen to be written by the only great poet of the century. He said I should’ve bought a translation or something. Or learned the language, if you please.”
  10. honor
    the quality of having a good name
    “Well. In the first place, he said it was a perfect crime the Army released him from the hospital—my word of honor. He very definitely told your father there’s a chance—a very great chance, he said—that Seymour may completely lose control of himself. My word of honor.”
  11. psychiatrist
    a specialist in the treatment of mental disorders
    “There’s a psychiatrist here at the hotel,” said the girl.
  12. fresh
    improperly forward or bold
    “Muriel, don’t be fresh, please. We’re very worried about you."
  13. sequin
    a small disk of shiny material used to decorate clothing
    “How are the clothes this year?”
    “Terrible. But out of this world. You see sequins—everything,” said the girl.
  14. rave
    talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner
    “Mother," said the girl, “you talk about him as though he were a raving maniac—”
  15. delicate
    easily broken or damaged or destroyed
    Mrs. Carpenter was putting sun-tan oil on Sybil’s shoulders, spreading it down over the delicate, winglike blades of her back.
  16. oblique
    slanting or inclined in direction or course or position
    She walked for about a quarter of a mile and then suddenly broke into an oblique run up the soft part of the beach.
  17. lapel
    a fold of fabric below the collar of a coat or jacket
    The young man started, his right hand going to the lapels of his terry-cloth robe.
  18. prone
    lying face downward
    Lying prone now, he made two fists, set one on top of the other, and rested his chin on the top one.
  19. protruding
    extending out above or beyond a surface or boundary
    Sybil stared at him, then looked down at her protruding stomach.
  20. prod
    push against gently
    Sybil prodded the rubber float that the young man sometimes used as a head-rest.
  21. vigorously
    in an energetic manner
    Sybil nodded vigorously.
  22. stoop
    bend one's back forward from the waist on down
    Sybil immediately stooped and began to dig in the sand.
  23. secure
    cause to be firmly attached
    He bent over, picked up the float, and secured it under his right arm.
  24. elaborate
    developed or executed with care and in minute detail
    She picked up an ordinary beach shell and looked at it with elaborate interest.
  25. foremost
    preceding all others in spatial position
    “Whirly Wood, Connecticut,” she said, and resumed walking, stomach foremost.
  26. peculiar
    beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
    “That’s understandable. Their habits are very peculiar. Very peculiar.” He kept pushing the float. The water was not quite up to his chest. “They lead a very tragic life,” he said. “You know what they do, Sybil?”
  27. horizon
    the line at which the sky and Earth appear to meet
    He edged the float and its passenger a foot closer to the horizon.
  28. snub
    refuse to acknowledge
    “We’ll ignore it. We’ll snub it,” said the young man. “Two snobs.”
  29. snob
    a person regarded as arrogant and annoying
    “We’ll ignore it. We’ll snub it,” said the young man. “Two snobs.”
  30. level
    being on a precise horizontal plane
    With her hand, when the float was level again, she wiped away a flat, wet band of hair from her eyes, and reported, “I just saw one.”
  31. cumbersome
    difficult to handle or use, especially because of size or weight
    The young man put on his robe, closed the lapels tight, and jammed his towel into his pocket, He picked up the slimy wet, cumbersome float and put it under his arm.
  32. plod
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    He plodded alone through the soft, hot sand toward the hotel.
  33. salve
    a preparation applied externally as a soothing remedy
    On the sub-main floor of the hotel, which the management directed bathers to use, a woman with zinc salve on her nose got into the elevator with the young man.
  34. sneak
    a person regarded as underhanded, furtive and contemptible
    “But don’t be a...sneak about it.”
  35. operate
    handle and cause to function
    “Let me out here, please,” the woman said quickly to the girl operating the car.
Created on Wed Oct 18 13:40:04 EDT 2017 (updated Mon Apr 08 16:29:25 EDT 2019)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.