Angels in America

Angels in America Glossary

Ingratiating

Gaining approval

Mediocrity

Being adequate

Shortcoming

Failure to meet a standard

Deserted

To be void of people

Confine

To enclose

Reflection

Making a serious consideration about something

Persevere

To keep on going in the face of adversity

Sentience

a state of being aware of one's senses, awake

yuppies

people in their 20s/30s who make a good deal of money, live in or near a city, and are characterized by materialism

portends

foreshadows, predicts, points to

circumspection

being prudent, thoughtful

implacable

committed, incapable of being swayed to another opinion

orifice

a bodily opening

lability

the state of being amenable to change

venery

the art of hunting

incipience

the beginning

tumesce

to swell

antiquated

old-fashioned

countenance

one's face

perestroika

Russian for "restructuring"