The Phantom of the Opera - Chapter 8: The Mysterious Brougham

Julie G. (United Kingdom)
Words from Gaston Leroux's novel "The Phantom of the Opera" (English translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, 1911).

[The maker of this vocabulary list would like to add that although this is the best-known and most widely available English translation of Leroux's novel, it is in fact an abridged version, despite some publishers' claims to the contrary. It is, however, in the public domain, and has a very nice style to it. Personally, I recommend either Lowell Bair's or Mireille Ribiere's translations if you're looking for the full text in English.]
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. jackanapes
    someone who is unimportant but cheeky and presumptuous
    It was beyond a doubt some unspeakable tenor, a good-looking jackanapes, who mouthed and simpered as he sang!
  2. domino
    a small rectangular block used in playing a game
    Wear a white domino and be carefully masked.
  3. prima donna
    a vain and temperamental person
    Raoul, of course, was the first to be astonished at the prima donna's absence.
  4. simper
    smile in an insincere, unnatural, or coy way
    It was beyond a doubt some unspeakable tenor, a good-looking jackanapes, who mouthed and simpered as he sang!
  5. machination
    a crafty and involved plot to achieve your ends
    But what he had seen at Perros, what he had heard behind the dressing-room door, his conversation with Christine at the edge of the moor made him suspect some machination which, devilish though it might be, was none the less human.
  6. alcove
    a small recess opening off a large room or garden
    Five minutes later, Raoul was ushered into an ill-lit room where he at once recognized the good, kind face of Christine's benefactress in the semi-darkness of an alcove.
  7. vortex
    a powerful circular current of water
    Raoul dressed in frantic haste, prepared to forget his distress by flinging himself, as people say, into "the vortex of pleasure."
  8. genius
    unusual mental ability
    "She is with her good genius!"
  9. indiscreet
    lacking discretion; injudicious
    The old lady did not seem surprised at this indiscreet command.
  10. malevolent
    wishing or appearing to wish evil to others
    ...made manifest to her in certain exceptional conditions, as in the churchyard at Perros; all this seemed to him to constitute a moral ground only too favorable for the malevolent designs of some mysterious and unscrupulous person.
  11. forbid
    command against
    He remembered the strong phrases in Christine's letter, forbidding him to make any attempt to see her.
  12. unscrupulous
    without principles
    ...exceptional conditions, as in the churchyard at Perros; all this seemed to him to constitute a moral ground only too favorable for the malevolent designs of some mysterious and unscrupulous person.
  13. curt
    brief and to the point
    He asked how long the holiday was for, and they replied curtly that it was for an unlimited period, as Mlle.
  14. fortnight
    a period of fourteen consecutive days
    A fortnight elapsed during which she was seen neither at the Opera nor outside.
  15. brooding
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    The girl's highly strung imagination, her affectionate and credulous mind, the primitive education which had surrounded her childhood with a circle of legends, the constant brooding over her dead father and, above all, the state of sublime ecstasy into which music threw her from the moment that this art was made manifest to her in...
  16. valet
    someone employed to park and retrieve cars
    His valet found him in the morning sitting on his bed.
  17. tenor
    the adult male singing voice above baritone
    It was beyond a doubt some unspeakable tenor, a good-looking jackanapes, who mouthed and simpered as he sang!
  18. moor
    come into or dock at a wharf
    But what he had seen at Perros, what he had heard behind the dressing-room door, his conversation with Christine at the edge of the moor made him suspect some machination which, devilish though it might be, was none the less human.
  19. hypocrisy
    pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not have
    Surely there should be some limit to hypocrisy and lying!...
  20. usher
    someone employed to conduct others
    Five minutes later, Raoul was ushered into an ill-lit room where he at once recognized the good, kind face of Christine's benefactress in the semi-darkness of an alcove.
  21. entangle
    cause to twist together or be caught in a snarled mass
    He hardly knew what he was saying, for his ideas about Christine, already greatly confused, were becoming more and more entangled; and it seemed as if everything was beginning to turn around him, around the room, around that extraordinary good lady with the white hair and forget-me-not eyes.
  22. gloomy
    depressingly dark
    Raoul left the building a prey to the gloomiest thoughts.
  23. sly
    marked by skill in deception
    And she, what a bold and damnable sly creature!
  24. scanty
    lacking in extent or quantity
    The maid soon returned and showed him into a small and scantily furnished drawing-room, in which portraits of Professor Valerius and old Daae hung on opposite walls.
  25. elapse
    pass by
    A fortnight elapsed during which she was seen neither at the Opera nor outside.
  26. ecstasy
    a state of elated bliss
    ...credulous mind, the primitive education which had surrounded her childhood with a circle of legends, the constant brooding over her dead father and, above all, the state of sublime ecstasy into which music threw her from the moment that this art was made manifest to her in certain exceptional conditions, as in the churchyard at Perros; all this seemed...
  27. credulous
    showing a lack of judgment or experience
    The girl's highly strung imagination, her affectionate and credulous mind, the primitive education which had surrounded her childhood with a circle of legends, the constant brooding over her dead father and, above all, the state of sublime ecstasy...
  28. purity
    being undiluted or unmixed with extraneous material
    To think that he had believed in her innocence, in her purity!
  29. despair
    a state in which all hope is lost or absent
    The viscount threw up his arms with a gesture of despair.
  30. sublime
    of high moral or intellectual value
    ...and credulous mind, the primitive education which had surrounded her childhood with a circle of legends, the constant brooding over her dead father and, above all, the state of sublime ecstasy into which music threw her from the moment that this art was made manifest to her in certain exceptional conditions, as in the churchyard at Perros; all this...
  31. cordial
    politely warm and friendly
    And their reception of the Vicomte de Chagny, when he came to ask about Christine, was anything but cordial.
  32. altar
    a raised structure on which sacrifices to a god are made
    ...the Angel of Music of whom Christine had spoken to him so strangely, on the death's head which he had seen in a sort of nightmare on the high altar at Perros and also on the Opera ghost, whose fame had come to his ears one evening when he was standing behind the scenes, within hearing of a group...
  33. flush
    rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid
    Raoul sprang from his chair, flushing to the temples, suffering agonies.
Created on Mon Aug 03 16:39:10 EDT 2015

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