SHORT STORIES (English 9) LBP

Ms. Patient (United States of America)
45 words 80 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. tenement
    a run-down apartment house barely meeting minimal standards
    from AMERICAN HISTORY

    El Building was a tenement.
  2. virago
    a noisy or scolding or domineering woman
    from AMERICAN HISTORY

    Elena described the screaming women in El Building as viragoes.
  3. discreet
    marked by prudence or modesty and wise self-restraint
    From AMERICAN HISTORY

    Elena tried to discreetly find out what classes Eugene was in after watching him all summer from the fire escape.
  4. lilting
    characterized by a buoyant rhythm
    from AMERICAN HISTORY

    Elena uses this word to describe Eugene's accent as rising and falling, hence lilting.

    (In Where are You Going-- it is also used to describe Arnold Friend's way of speaking.)
  5. enthralled
    filled with wonder and delight
    from AMERICAN HISTORY

    Elena was enthralled by the mansion and lifestyle of the people in the Old South in GONE WITH THE WIND.
  6. drove
    a moving crowd
    from AMERICAN HISTORY

    Immigrants came in droves to New York City and the surrounding NJ suburbs, like Paterson.
  7. languid
    lacking spirit or liveliness
    from WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN

    Connie sat around the house languidly (before Arnold Friend came by.)
  8. droll
    comical in an odd or whimsical manner
    from WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN

    Connie's friend gave her a droll look when Connie said "I'll see you later" because the friend knew that Connie was going to make-out with a boy.
  9. jalopy
    a car that is old and unreliable
    from WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN

    Arnold Friend had a gold jalopy.
  10. homage
    respectful deference
    from WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN

    Arnold Friend tapped his fists in "homage to the music".
    Joyce Carol Oates wrote the story in homage to Bob Dylan.
  11. florid
    inclined to a healthy reddish color
    from EVERYTHING RISES

    Julian's mom's face was florid because she had high blood pressure.
  12. martyrdom
    any experience that causes intense suffering
    from EVERYTHING RISES

    Julian thought of himself as a martyr every time he had to take his mom to the Y.
  13. reparation
    compensation for an insult or injury
    from EVERYTHING RISES

    Julian thought every time he sat next to a black person on the bus he was doing it "in reparation for his mother's sins."
  14. sonorous
    full and loud and deep
    from EVERYTHING RISES

    The undertaker that Julian sat next to one time on the bus had a sonorous voice.
  15. indignation
    a feeling of righteous anger
    from EVERYTHING RISES

    Julian felt great indignation when he thought of the fact that he could never live in the big mansion his grandparents had.
  16. ponderous
    having great mass and weight and unwieldiness
    from EVERYTHING RISES

    The woman with the same hat as Julian's mother had a ponderous figure.
  17. haughty
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    from EVERYTHING RISES

    Julian's mother often had a haughty attitude toward African-Americans.
  18. incipient
    only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
    from EVERYTHING RISES

    "with a sinking heart he saw incipient signs of recovery on her face" this is when Julian realizes his mother doesn't care that the black woman is wearing the same hat as she
  19. vehemently
    in a forceful manner
    from EVERYTHING RISES


    Carter's mother said "Be-have" vehemently.
  20. condescending
    characteristic of those who treat others with arrogance
    from EVERYTHING RISES

    Julian was condescending to his mother, because he thought he was better than her.
  21. profusely
    in very large amounts or quantities; extremely
    from THE LOTTERY

    "the flowers were blossoming profusely" (in June)
  22. boisterous
    marked by exuberance and high spirits
    from THE LOTTERY

    The boys were boisterous as they gathered stones.
  23. jovial
    full of or showing high-spirited merriment
    from THE LOTTERY

    Mr. Summers was a round and jovial man.
  24. paraphernalia
    equipment consisting of miscellaneous articles
    from THE LOTTERY

    The black box was the remaining paraphernalia in the The Lottery.
  25. perfunctory
    hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough
    from THE LOTTERY

    There used to be a chant that the officials would say in a perfunctory manner during the rituals of the Lottery, but they didn't do it any more.
  26. imperturbable
    marked by extreme calm and composure
    From ARABY

    James Joyce uses the personification of the homes looking at each other "with imperturbable face."
  27. gauntlet
    a form of punishment with two lines of men facing each other
    From ARABY

    The boy in Araby would run with his friends through the alleyways of Dublin and they would go to the "rough cottages" and "run the gauntlet" where tough people lived.
  28. career
    move headlong at high speed
    From ARABY

    "The career of our play brought us to the muddy lanes."
  29. litany
    a prayer consisting of a series of invocations by the priest with responses from the congregation
    From ARABY

    "the shrill litanies of shop boys" calling out lists of items
  30. incessant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    From ARABY

    The rain was incessant in Dublin.
  31. chafe
    feel extreme irritation or anger
    From ARABY

    "I chafed against the work of school." (Didn't want to do it)
  32. curt
    brief and to the point
    to the point of being rude

    From ARABY

    The uncle answered him curtly when he asked for the third time if he could have some money to go to Araby.
  33. garrulous
    full of trivial conversation
    From ARABY

    Talkative, chatty

    The guest at the boy's house was garrulous, but her talk annoyed him because he was just waiting for his uncle.
  34. pious
    having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity
    From ARABY

    "holy"

    The boy would fantasize about Mangan's sister, thinking he was holding a pious chalice as he went about errands.
  35. deride
    treat or speak of with contempt
    From ARABY

    The boy feels "derided by vanity" in the end because he realizes his quest for a gift for Mangan's sister was folly.
  36. impeded
    made difficult or slow
    From VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS

    The angel couldn't get up impeded by the mud on his wings.
  37. stupor
    feeling of distress and disbelief when something bad happens
    From VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS

    Pelayo and Elisenda looked at the fallen body with a mute stupor.
  38. magnanimous
    noble and generous in spirit
    From VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS

    Pelayo and Elisenda were feeling magnanimous toward the angel when their child didn't die
  39. frivolous
    not serious in content, attitude, or behavior
    Frivolity is the noun

    From VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS
  40. conjecture
    the formation of conclusions from incomplete evidence
    the people were
    From VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS
    The people were making all kinds of conjectures concerning the captive's future.
  41. decrepit
    worn and broken down by hard use
    From VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS

    decrepitude (noun)

    The old man with wings looked like an oversized decrepit hen in the chicken coop.
  42. invalid
    someone who is incapacitated by a chronic illness or injury
    From VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS

    All the invalids wanted to see the angel to be cured.
  43. proliferate
    cause to grow or increase rapidly
    From VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS

    The parasites on the angel's wings proliferated at a rapid speed.
  44. providential
    peculiarly fortunate or appropriate
    From VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS

    The coming of the tarantula lady proved providential for the angel because people leaved him alone then.
  45. deign
    do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
    From VERY OLD MAN WITH ENORMOUS WINGS

    The haughty angel would not deign to speak to humans
Created on Thu Dec 12 13:06:38 EST 2013 (updated Thu Jan 09 00:28:37 EST 2014)

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