Glossary of Terms
Abhorrent: causing repulsion or strong disgust
Abjectly: with a degraded demeanor; lacking self-respect
Abscond: to hide away from the law, in haste and in secret
Alacrity: liveliness; eagerness
Assessor: a person with special expertise to evaluate, usually assisting or consulting a judge
Beatitude: perfect happiness
Bulkhead: partition standing upright to separate parts of a ship or airplane
Catacomb: underground burial place consisting of a series of chambers
Clamorous: noisy; loud, with a sense of confusion
Conjecture: a guess or conclusion based on incomplete evidence
Consternation: a state of shock and disappointment
Crepuscular: descriptive of twilight
Deferential: showing great respect
Diffusion: the process of being scattered, softened, or intermingled
Dormant: asleep; inactive
Dyspepsia: indigestion; discomfort caused by digesting food
Elucidate: to make clear; to explain
Entomologist: a person who studies insects
Expostulate: to argue with a person strongly and in earnest
Extortionate: excessive; exorbitant
Fecund: fertile; productive
Felicitous: suitable and pleasing to the occasion
Flaxen: like flax (pale yellow in color)
Foolscap: a sheet of writing paper
Fusillade: simultaneous and continuous discharge of firearms
Gale: a strong, howling wind
Half-caste: a person of mixed race or ancestry
Impel: to push; to propel; to urge
Imprecation: a curse
Inanition: condition of being exhausted of food or spirit; empty
Incognito: the state of having one's true identity concealed
Incontinently: with inability to control or restrain oneself
Indomitable: not easily conquered or discouraged
Inscrutable: mysterious; impenetrable
Jollity: a party; joyfulness
Lackadaisical: with lack of spirit; listless
Lank: lean
Lanyard: a short rope used to fasten something
Mongrel: of mixed breed or character (derogatory)
Monsoon: a seasonal wind that brings rain
Palaver: idle chatter; flattery
Peculate: to steal money; to embezzle
Perdition: Hell
Pestilence: plague; dangerous infectious disease
Placid: tranquil; satisfied
Propagate: to reproduce; to spread
Propitiatory: conciliatory; appeasing
Punkahs: large fans made from palm leaves, usually hung from the ceiling
Quay: a wharf for loading and unloading ships
Rapacious: seizing by force; greedy
Remonstrate: to protest or object
Renegade: outlaw; traitor
Rubicund: reddish; ruddy
Ruffian: a rowdy or lawless person
Sagacious: wise
Scintillate: to sparkle or flash
Sentient: to be conscious; to have sense perception
Shirk: to neglect
Sinuosity: having a wavy shape or movement
Stanchion: upright bar or post that provides support
Surreptitious: done in a secret or clandestine manner
Taffrail: the rail around the stern of a ship
Tenebrous: dark or gloomy
Totter: to sway or shake unsteadily, as if about to fall
Tractable: easily managed; malleable
Ungainly: clumsy; unattractive
Unpropitious: unfavorable; disadvantageous
Vagabond: a person who wanders aimlessly
Valise: a small suitcase
Verandah: an open balcony or porch, usually covered
Volubility: fluency of speech
Zenith: the highest point; the summit
ClassicNote on Lord Jim
| 
