Into the Wild Glossary

Glossary of Terms

amalgam

mixture

anachronistic

not appropriate to the times

canted

sloping

carapace

an animal's shell

contumacious

resistant to authority; flagrantly disobedient or rebellious

coppice

a grove of small trees

denuded

stripped by erosion

dunning

darkly bleak and depressing

eremitic

like a hermit

escarpments

steep ridges or cliffs forming the boundary of a plateau area

garrulous

very talkative

hyperkinetic

unusually active, mobile

itinerant

traveling from place to place

leather tramps

vagabonds without a vehicle, who thus have to hitchhike or walk

lenity

the quality of being or acting lenient

mawkish

sentimental in a contrived way

morass

an area of soggy ground; a situation that impedes or prevents progress, that is hard to get through

muskeg

an area of swamp or boggy land covered in moss, leaves and dead plant matter

opprobrium

scorn or criticism

pellucid

transparent

plebeian

common or coarse

ramparts

fortified embankments

rictus

a strange grin or grimace

rubber tramps

vagabonds who have a vehicle

saguaro

a large cactus found in the American Southwest that can grow to be sixty feet tall

scudding

sailing with a strong wind blowing from behind

sere

dry and withered

sonorous

with loud, deep, and clear tones

stasis

a state without motion or development

taiga

subarctic coniferous forests

turgid

pompous and overcomplicated