Girl with a Pearl Earring: 1666 and 1676

by Tracy Chevalier
In seventeenth-century Holland, Griet's life is changed when she poses for a portrait by the brilliant painter Johannes Vermeer.

Learn these word lists for the novel: 1664, 1665, 1666 and 1676
15 words 112 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. baffled
    perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements
    My father spoke in a baffled tone.
  2. querulous
    habitually complaining
    He must have noted the troubled looks my mother gave me, my father's querulous comments, the awkward silences so unexpected between parent and child.
  3. amends
    something done or paid to make up for a wrong
    To make amends he tucked the strand of hair back under my cap, then touched my cheek.
  4. perplexed
    full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment
    All the while he seemed perplexed, as if someone had told him a story and he couldn't recall the ending.
  5. deliberate
    carefully thought out in advance
    Her harsh manner was rare now, and less deliberate.
  6. impractical
    not workable
    It would have been impractical—there were only so many errands I could run.
  7. placate
    cause to be more favorably inclined
    "You need only wear it once," he added, as if to placate me.
  8. virtuous
    morally excellent
    Virtuous women did not open their mouths in paintings.
  9. cumbersome
    difficult to handle or use, especially because of size or weight
    She was having a hard time sleeping now—her body had become too cumbersome to find a position she could lie in comfortably.
  10. mocking
    playfully vexing, especially by ridicule
    It was a bright, cloudless day, the sky a mocking blue.
  11. sober
    dignified and serious in manner or character
    Maria Thins was standing next to the easel, looking sober but also impatient, as if she had other, more important things to attend to.
  12. stupor
    a state of being half-awake
    My question snapped her out of her stupor.
  13. cunning
    crafty artfulness, especially in deception
    In fact I almost pitied her—her face was twisted by a cunning that gave a girl her age an ugly look.
  14. reluctance
    a certain degree of unwillingness
    No amount of powder could mask her rigid anger, her reluctance, her fear.
  15. feeble
    pathetically lacking in force or effectiveness
    Catharina did not seem to take in my feeble words.
Created on Thu Aug 22 21:09:55 EDT 2013 (updated Mon Jul 28 11:20:07 EDT 2025)

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