Gene Hackman (1930–2025) Tribute List

American actor, Gene Hackman, received two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. In his four-decade career, Hackman acted in approximately 100 films. His film credits include: The French Connection, Unforgiven, Bonnie and Clyde, Hoosiers, and three of the original Superman series. Hackman was a versatile actor who offered his audiences the perfect Everyman in "regular-Joe" characters. After his film career, he became a novelist and co-wrote or wrote a total of six historical novels. We honor him with this tribute list of words from movie quotes, biographical information, and news articles.
20 words 1 learner

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. certain
    having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty
    Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle: Listen, I know the deal hasn't gone down yet. I KNOW it! I can feel it, I'm dead certain.
    – The French Connection
  2. comprehension
    an ability to understand the meaning of something
    Reverend Scott: God is pretty busy! He's got a long term plan for humanity that stretches far beyond our comprehension.
    – The Poseidon Adventure
  3. chase
    go after with the intent to catch
    Little Bill Daggett: All-right. We're pulling out early in the morning. We're going to chase these fellas clear down to Texas only don't spend too much of your own money.
    – Unforgiven
  4. profound
    far-reaching and thoroughgoing in effect
    Royal: You know, Richie, this illness, this closeness to death...it's had a profound effect on me. I feel like a different person, I really do.
    – The Royal Tenenbaums
  5. potential
    the inherent capacity for coming into being
    Coach Norman Dale: If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don't care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book we're gonna be winners.
    – Hoosiers
  6. humble
    low or inferior in station or quality
    Lex Luthor: "...Remember," my father said...
    Otis: "...land."
    Lex Luthor: Right. It's a pity he couldn't see from such humble beginnings how I've created this empire.
    – Superman
  7. double jeopardy
    prosecution of the same crime twice
    Superman: [concerned] The other one? There's two of them [rockets]?
    Lex Luthor: Yes, Superman. Double jeopardy. Even you with your great speed couldn't stop both of them. While I, on the other hand, could stop them with my detonator.
    – Superman
  8. stadium
    a large structure for sports or entertainments
    Jimmy McGinty: When the Washington Sentinels left the stadium that date, there was no tickertape parade, no endorsement deals for sneakers or soda pop, or breakfast cereal. Just a locker to be cleaned out, and a ride home to catch. But what they didn't know, was that their lives had been changed forever because they had been part of something great. And greatness, no matter how brief, stays with a man. Every athlete dreams of a second chance, these men lived it.
    – The Replacments
  9. teetotaler
    someone who abstains from drinking alcoholic beverages
    Buck Barrow: And the doctor, he had called him come over, and said, uh, "Uhh listen, your Ma, she's lyin' there, she's just so sick and she's weakly, and uh, uh I want ya to try to persuade her to take a little brandy," you see. Just to pick her spirits up, ya know. And "Ma's a teetotaler," he says. "She wouldn't touch a drop."
    – Bonnie and Clyde
  10. literary
    relating to or characteristic of creative writing
    Harry Zimm: I once asked this literary agent, uh, what kind of writing paid the best...he said, "Ransom notes."
    – Get Shorty
  11. curiosity
    a state in which you want to learn more about something
    Harry Caul: Listen, if there's one sure-fire rule that I have learned in this business is that I don't know anything about human nature. I don't know anything about curiosity. That's not part of what I do.
    – The Conversation
  12. generous
    willing to give and share unstintingly
    "Like everyone who ever shared a scene with him," [Morgan] Freeman said, "I learned he was a generous performer whose gifts elevated everyone's work."
    USA Today
  13. charm
    attractiveness that interests or pleases or stimulates
    An intense character actor, Hackman brought a rogue charm and everyman believability to iconic roles, such as his best acting-winning performance as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in the aforementioned "The French Connection." USA Today
  14. iconic
    relating to a symbolic figure
    An intense character actor, Hackman brought a rogue charm and everyman believability to iconic roles, such as his best acting-winning performance as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in the aforementioned "The French Connection." USA Today
  15. everyday
    commonplace and ordinary
    Still, he did not deny that he had a regular-Joe image, nor did he mind it. He once joked that he looked like "your everyday mine worker." And he did seem to have been born middle-aged: slightly balding, with strong but unremarkable features neither plain nor handsome, a tall man (6-foot-2) more likely to melt into a crowd than stand out in one. The New York Times
  16. intuitive
    spontaneously derived from or prompted by a natural tendency
    Director Alan Parker referred to Hackman as "a very intuitive and instinctive actor." BBC
  17. film
    a series of moving pictures that tells a story
    "The business for me is very stressful. The compromises that you have to make in films are just part of the beast," he said, "and it had gotten to a point where I just didn't feel like I wanted to do it any more." BBC
  18. fiction
    a literary work based on the imagination
    After quitting acting, he gained a new reputation as a writer of historical fiction. BBC
  19. author
    a person who writes professionally
    Gene Hackman was the author of two novels and coauthor of three other novels.
    – Simon & Schuster
  20. celebrity
    a widely known person
    Throughout his career, he gave few interviews and eschewed the celebrity lifestyle. "If you look at yourself as a star," he said, "you've already lost something in the portrayal of any human being." BBC
Created on Wed Mar 05 19:30:37 EST 2025 (updated Fri Mar 07 15:22:27 EST 2025)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.