-
impromptu
with little or no preparation or forethought
“We’ve planned out an
impromptu course of study for him.
-
gluttonous
given to excess in consumption of especially food or drink
A
gluttonous ascetic?
-
ascetic
someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline
A gluttonous
ascetic?
-
vertigo
a reeling sensation; a feeling that you are about to fall
From the start, Ender was plagued by
vertigo as he walked through the tunnels, especially the ones that girdled Eros’s narrow circumference.
-
adept
having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude
Gradually, as he became more
adept at controlling the fighter’s speed, direction of movement, orientation, and weapons, the game was made more complex.
-
wince
draw back, as with fear or pain
He was able to turn enough to see the old man standing in the doorway,
wincing and holding his back.
-
relativity
the theory that space and time are not absolute concepts
“There are miracles even
relativity can’t pull off, Ender.”
-
inscrutable
of an obscure nature
Mazer’s face went
inscrutable.
-
armada
a large fleet
You, with your tiny reserve force, and their
armada, those great big heavy-bellied starships launching their swarms of fighters.
-
sentient
endowed with feeling and unstructured consciousness
Not murdering living,
sentient beings with an independent genetic future.
-
feint
deceive by a mock action
Ender watched as all his squadrons moved at once, each responding to its own situation, all guided by Ender’s overall command, but daring, improvising,
feinting, attacking with an independence no bugger fleet had ever shown.
-
catacomb
an underground tunnel with recesses where bodies were buried
I was cut off from all the people that I loved, everything I knew, living in this alien
catacomb and forced to do nothing of importance but teach student after student, each one so hopeful, each one, ultimately, a weakling, a failure.
-
interstice
small opening between things
Take what pleasure you can in the
interstices of your work, but your work is first, learning is first, winning is everything because without it there is nothing.
-
coddle
treat with excessive indulgence
If you keep
coddling us like this we’ll think you like us.”
-
irony
incongruity between what might be expected and what occurs
Ender recognized the
irony, of course, and answered with a long silence.
-
reprisal
a retaliatory action against an enemy in wartime
You decide whether it would be wise to adopt a strategy that would invite
reprisals.”
-
prostrate
stretched out and lying at full length along the ground
Men in uniform were hugging each other, laughing, shouting; others were weeping; some knelt or lay
prostrate, and Ender knew they were caught up in prayer.
-
provocateur
a secret agent who incites persons to commit illegal acts
It was plain that Ender was not the
provocateur.
-
intelligentsia
an educated elite
It was the moment he had been waiting for, to use Demosthenes’ influence with the mob and Locke’s influence with the
intelligentsia to accomplish something noteworthy.
-
demagogue
a leader who seeks support by appealing to popular passions
Let them spend the next fifty years poring over the passenger list, trying to figure out which one of them is the great
demagogue of the Age of Locke.”
-
maraud
raid and rove in search of booty
From fences with sharpened stakes that pointed outward he learned that there were
marauding animals that were a danger to the crops or the herds.
-
littoral
the region of the shore of a lake or sea or ocean
The only name they knew was that of Peter Wiggin, the Hegemon of Earth; the only news that came was news of peace, of prosperity, of great ships leaving the
littoral of Earth’s solar system, passing the comet shield and filling up the bugger worlds.
-
concave
curving inward
A deep depression in the middle, partially filled with water, was ringed by
concave slopes that cantilevered dangerously over the water.
-
itinerant
traveling from place to place to work
Wherever they stopped, he was always Andrew Wiggin,
itinerant speaker for the dead, and she was always Valentine, historian errant, writing down the stories of the living while Ender spoke the stories of the dead.
-
errant
straying from the right course or from accepted standards
Wherever they stopped, he was always Andrew Wiggin, itinerant speaker for the dead, and she was always Valentine, historian
errant, writing down the stories of the living while Ender spoke the stories of the dead.