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sullen
showing a brooding ill humor
At curtain, there is a
sullen light of gloom in the living room.
-
colonialism
exploitation by a stronger country of weaker one
Cure the Great Sore of
Colonialism (Loftily, mocking it) with the Penicillin of Independence!
-
mirage
something illusory and unattainable
Each of us with our own little picture in front of us our own little
mirage that we think is the future.
-
martyr
one who suffers for the sake of principle
Beneatha: The
martyr!
-
esteemed
having an illustrious reputation; respected
Perhaps I shall live to be a very old man, respected and
esteemed in my new nation .
-
rummage
search haphazardly
Presently Walter enters from his room and starts to
rummage through things, feverishly looking for something.
-
bourgeois
a member of the middle class
Monsieur le petit
bourgeois noir himself!
-
keen
very good
No I told him he was a sweet boy and full of dreams and everything is strictly peachy
keen!
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elude
be incomprehensible to
She is lost, vague, trying to catch hold, to make some sense of her former command of the world, but it still
eludes her.
-
gait
the rate of moving, especially walking or running
A sense of waste overwhelms her
gait; a measure of apology rides on her shoulders.
-
mope
be apathetic, gloomy, or dazed
I guess we all better stop
moping around and get some work done.
-
bureau
furniture with drawers for keeping clothes
I seen a second-hand
bureau over on Maxwell Street just the other day that could fit right there.
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bassinet
a basket (usually hooded) used as a baby's bed
(To Ruth) And you could get some nice screens to put up in your room round the baby's
bassinet .
-
scheme
an elaborate and systematic plan of action
He don't even count in the big
scheme of things.
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falter
move hesitatingly, as if about to give way
I'm going to look that son-of-a-bitch in the eyes and say (He
falters) and say, "All right, Mr. Lindner (He
falters even more) that's your neighborhood out there!
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grovel
show submission or fear
(He does so; Ruth and Bennie and Mama watch him in frozen horror) "Captain, Mistuh, Bossman (
Groveling and grinning and wringing his hands in profoundly anguished imitation of the slow-witted movie stereotype) A-hee-hee-hee!
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epitaph
an inscription in memory of a buried person
You done wrote his
epitaph too like the rest of the world?
In context, this means "to write off" or "to forget about as if dead."
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reverie
absentminded dreaming while awake
Lindner (To Mama in her
reverie) Then I would like to appeal to you, Mrs. Younger.
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hoodlum
an aggressive and violent young criminal
Walter Lee, fix your tie and tuck your shirt in, you look like somebody's
hoodlum!
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nobility
elevation of mind and exaltation of character
(She flies to get it amid the general bustling of the family, who are deliberately trying to ignore the
nobility of the past moment) You all start on down .
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precariously
in a manner affording no ease or reassurance
You ain't old enough to marry nobody (Seeing the moving men lifting one of her chairs
precariously)... please handle it so we can sit in it again!
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loot
informal terms for money
You better marry yourself a man with some
loot.
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diminish
decrease in size, extent, or range
(Walter and Beneatha go out yelling at each other vigorously and the anger is loud and real till their voices
diminish.)