JANE EYRE Vocabulary #1
English 8
consciousness (n) -
awareness
lamentable
(adj)
- deeply
regrettable
promontory (n) -
headland; point of high land
vignettes
(n) -
pictures; character sketches
torpid
(adj)-
dormant; sluggish
diffidence
(n)
reserve; shyness
bilious -
(adj)
peevish; sick
antipathy -
(n)
hostility; dislike
equilibrium -
(n)
balance
impudence -
(n)
rudeness; sauciness
predominate - (adj)
prevail; have power over
divest -
(v)
get rid of
ignominy -
(n)
shame
incredulous - (adj)
disbelieving; dubious
consecration -
(n)
dedication; act of making something sacred
retrospective - (adj/n)
looking backward; reflecting
acrid -
(adj)
sharp; bitter
captious -
(adj)
fault-finding, highly critical
insolent -
(adj)
impudent, rude
indemnity -
(n)
security against damage or loss
opprobrium -
(n)
disgrace; infamy
transitory
- (adj)
fleeting; passing
instigate -
(v)
initiate; to stir up
consternation -
(n)
confusion
tumult -
(n)
chaos
heterogeneous (adj)
different; various
propensities -
(n)
inclinations; tendencies
cordiality -
(n)
warmth; geniality
ire -
(n)
anger; wrath
uncongenial - (adj)
unpleasant
JANE EYRE Vocabulary #2
English 8
singular
(adj)
strange
perjure -
(v)
swear falsely under oath
preternatural - (adj)
beyond the bound of nature
elicit -
(v)
draw forth
consolatory - (adj)
offering solace or comfort
artifice -
(n)
trick; stratagem
infer
-
(v)
deduce from another's implication or intimation
rending
-
(v)
tearing
reverberation -
(n)
echoing sound
unwonted
- (adj)
unaccustomed
reprimand
-
(v)
to scold or to chastise; chastisement
defer
-
(v)
postpone; give way to in respect
transient
- (adj)
passing (through)
perused
-
(v)
studied carefully
Lilliput
- (n)
land of little people in Swift's Gulliver's Travels
Brobdignag -
(n)
land of giants in Swift's Gulliver's Travels
cadence -
(n)
rhythm; closing phrase of a musical piece
doleful
(adj)
sad; melancholy
morbid
-
(adj)
unwholesome; sickly; preoccupied with death
emulation
-
(n)
imitation with the purpose of improvement
Guy Fawkes -
(n)
failed saboteur who tried to blow up Parliament in 1606
prevalent
- (adj)
outstanding; dominant; widespread; widely accepted or practiced
allusion
-
(n)
implied or indirect reference
aversion
-
(n)
extreme dislike
execrations -
(n)
curses
audacious
- (adj)
bold
hiatus
-
(n)
stop; halt; break in continuity
capricious
- (adj)
whimsical; inconstant
usurious -
(adj)
overcharging (usury=excessive charge on a loan)
vehement
- (adj)
determined; passionate
JANE EYRE NEW Vocabulary #3
propound -
(v)
to put forth
(an idea)
The theory he propounded seemed outrageous to
some listeners.
judicious -
(adj)
wise
Her judicious decision solved everyone’s
problems.
foment -
(v)
to grow; stimulate
The revolutionary fomented rebellion among the
oppressed people.
mandate -
(v/n)
order
The new law mandated that all schools must
accept children of all races.
The soldier followed the mandate from
retaliation -
(n)
revenge
Jane vowed retaliation against John Reed.
sotto voce -
(adj)
in a lowered voice
Speak sotto voce in the library.
sequestered - (adj)
set apart
Jane was sequestered from the Reed children.
blanched - (v/adj)
whitened (with fear)
I blanched at the sight of the spider.
hoary
- (adj)
frosted or grey (with freeze or with age)
The window pane is hoary on a cold January day.
cessation
- (n)
delay; stop
Class 8 requested a cessation of their studies.
countenance
- (n)
face; expression
Mr. Rochester’s countenance shows his ire.
(v) to approve
I will not countenance such behavior from a
child.
traversed
- (v)
crossed
I traversed the ocean in a boat.
protracted - (v/adj)
extended; drawn out
The protracted conversation left us all tired.
indefatigable - (adj)
tireless (as in relentless)
An indefatigable supporter of Civil Rights, the
lawyer worked all hours on his case against segregation in schools.
marshaled
- (v)
gathered into a group
The general marshaled his troops for an attack
on the enemy camp.
veneration
- (n)
awe; respect
I felt veneration for the old professor.
apportioned
- (v)
designated; meted out
Two pieces of cake were apportioned to each
student.
skein
-
(n)
bundle of yarn or thread coiled many times
Before knitting I took my skein onto my lap.
disconsolate - (adj)
deeply sad
I was disconsolate after the loss of my puppy.
abstracted - (adj)
withdrawn in thought
He was too abstracted to answer my question.
assiduity
- (n)
attentiveness; diligence; conscientiousness
The assiduity of their students impressed Ms. Taylot, Ms. Jacobs, and Dr. Wilcove.
prerogatives
- (n)
rights and privileges
Class Twelve students once enjoyed the prerogative
of riding the elevator.
truculent
- (adj)
ready to fight; hostile
Jane is quite truculent in her early life,
until Helen teaches her a more peaceful way of being.
degenerate
- (v)
to deteriorate, especially morally
That young man will continue to degenerate
unless he finds a good moral guide to help him improve.
abyss
- (n)
bottomless pit
Brocklehurst believes that Jane will find herself in the fiery abyss
unless she changes her ways.
NEW JANE EYRE Vocabulary #4
invalid
(n.)
chronically ill individual
The invalid kept
hoping someday he would recover from his illness and lead an active life.
deficiency
(n)
lack or shortage of something
It makes me sad that there is such a deficiency
of goodwill in this corrupt world.
exigency
(n)
difficult situation requiring urgent action; demand
A skilled leader must be able to handle any exigency.
penurious (adj)
having very little money (penury--n--poverty)
I hoped I would win the lottery and thus end my penurious
situation.
dejected
(ajd)
feeling or showing sadness and lack of hope
After Pixie, my pet
poodle ran away, I felt terribly dejected.
hearth
(n)
fireplace
On a cold winter day, I love to sit by the hearth
and do grammar exercises.
invariably (adj)
always; consistently
Little children invariably love candy.
gaunt
(adj)
extremely thin and bony
The lost stray poodle looked so gaunt that I
took him home and fed him a sumptuous dinner.
apparition
(n)
appearance of a supposed ghost
Yesterday, during homeroom, I was shocked to see an apparition
standing next to Mme. Courtial-Esiner.
orb
(n)
spherical object; an eye
The earth is a celestial orb.
repugnance
(n)
very strong dislike or distaste
The thought of broccoli ice cream fills me with repugnance.
edification
(n)
instruction or enlightenment (particularly spiritual)
Todd moved in to a monastery because he was seeing edification.
fortitude
(n)
strength and endurance in a difficult or painful situation
Climbing a mountain requires tremendous fortitude.
petrified (adj)
frozen or stiff (often because of terror)
When a lion crawled into the assembly room, the
students were petrified.
intimate
(v)
to hint at something (intimations--n--hints)
Her slightly rude comments intimated that I
need to lose weight.
heathen
(n)
offensive term for someone who does not worship the
Judeo-Christian
God
The overzealous missionary accused the people of being
heathen.
triviality
(n)
condition of having little importance or seriousness
Gossip magazines are filled with triviality.
abate
(v)
to lessen gradually; to suppress
The candy bar abated my hunger.
feeble
(adj)
lacking physical or mental strength or health
After running twelve miles, I felt quite feeble
and could not concentrate.
conspicuous (adj)
easily or clearly visible; attracting attention
The girl’s purple leopard-skin kilt was quite
conspicuous.
placid
(adj)
calm and even-tempered
I love my teacher; she is incredibly placid and
never loses her temper.
genial
(adj)
pleasantly mild and warm
I love visiting my neighbor; she is
quite genial.
vicinity
(n)
surrounding region or area
Be careful; there’s a stray rabid poodle roaming the vicinity.
zeal
(n)
energy and enthusiasm, especially for a cause or idea
The senator showed tremendous zeal in debate
when she discussed her plans to help the economy.
soporific (adj)
causing sleep or drowsiness (n-- something to cause sleep)
If you have insomnia, taking a hot bath is a soporific activity that might help
you.
NEW JANE EYRE Vocabulary #5
condescension
(n)
behavior that implies lowering oneself to the level of
someone supposedly less important or intelligent
The teacher’s condescension toward young Suzie
made Suzie feel that the teacher did not believe she could do the work
antiquity
(n)
ancient history; the state of being very old
The antiquity of the
books in the library made me think he had inherited many of his books from his
grandmother.
prattle
(n)
silly, childish talk
“Quit your prattle
while I’m talking,” said Mrs. Peabody to the chatty boy.
philanthropist
(n)
someone who works for charitable causes
Jane asks Mr. Rochester if
he is a philanthropist; she figures he could be, for all his money.
submissive (adj)
giving to the demands or authority of others (submit--v--to give in)
Some students in Ms.
Taylor’s class thought that Helen is too submissive.
malignant (adj)
likely to cause harm
She had a malignant tumor and needed an operation to
remove it.
homage
(n)
show of reverence or respect
I paid homage to my wise teacher.
reiterate
(v)
to say or do
something again; even numerous times
You must listen to the
directions the first time; I do not want to have to reiterate them.
desist
(v)
to cease;
stop
sedative
(n)
tranquilizer
Mrs. Reed was so distressed
after Jane’s outburst, she chose to take a sedative
in order to fall asleep that night.
enigma
(n)
riddle; puzzle
Mr. Rochester is a bit of an
enigma: does he or does he not disdain material things?
lassitude
(n)
weariness
With lassitude, I
pulled my body up the stairs to bed.
chagrin
(n)
mortification;
embarrassment
Much to my chagrin, Mary told Paul I had a
crush on him
chafe
(v)
to make sore
by rubbing
The tall weeds chafed
my shins until they bled.
subordinate
(n)
inferior; assistant
With Mr. Rochester, Jane speaks her mind and in this
way refuses to be his subordinate.
pallor
(n)
paleness (pallid --adj-- pale)
The pallor of Helen’s face was not a good sign.
sordid
(adj) disgusting;
dirty
Sordid living conditions made the boarding school an unsafe
place for students.
alacrity (n)
eagerness;
quickness
With alacrity, I rode
my bike to the grocery store in order to share the great news with Mr. Henry.
presentiment
(n)
premonition
When I woke up that morning,
I had a funny feeling in my stomach—a presentiment that it would be an
eventful day.
When I woke up that morning,
I had a funny feeling in my stomach—a presentiment that it would be an
eventful day.
pecuniary (adj) financial
Pecuniary problems made it impossible for me to keep living in
the big house.
reminiscences (n)
memories;
nostalgia
The photo album sparked reminiscences
of my childhood.
peremptory (adj) no-nonsense;
decisive
In response to the meal of
poor porridge,
languish
(v)
to brood; to get weaker
Tommy languished
alone in his room—tormented in love for the charming Henrietta.
prudence
(n)
good sense; caution
It takes prudence and
hard work to be a head of school.
misconstrue
(v)
to misinterpret; misunderstand
“Don’t intentionally misconstrue
my words,” began Dorian. “I am trying my best to be clear, and you are not
trying to understand.”
to
mutiny
(v)
to rebel against; defy; (n) a rebellion
Some wonder why the girls at
impetuous (adj)
unthinking; reckless
The impetuous dog
jumped up on me and accidentally scratched my knee with his paw.
plebeian
(adj.)
working-class
The tyrannical lord was not
kind to the plebeians; he stole all their wool and rode recklessly
through their food market on his dangerous horse.
impediment (n)
obstacle
One impediment to
attacking the town was the stone wall.
bigamist
(n) someone
married to two people at once
A bigamist, he had to
hide from the police, as one is not allowed by law to have more than one wife.