The
Great Gatsby Ms.
Hoffmann
Vocab
List #1
1.
Fractiousness— noun
1. Unruliness
2. Stubborn
nature, difficultness
3. Petulance
Use in Gatsby: “His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor,
added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed.”
2.
Incredulously—adverb
1.
skeptically; unbelievingly
Use in
Gatsby: “Her host looked at her incredulously” (10).
3. Wan— adjective
1. of an unnatural or sickly pallor; pallid; lacking color: His wan face suddenly flushed.
2. showing or suggesting ill health, fatigue, unhappiness, etc.: a wan look; a wan smile.
3. lacking in forcefulness, competence, or effectiveness: their wan attempts to organize the alumni.
4. Archaic .
a. dark or gloomy.
b. pale in color or hue.
verb (used without object), verb (used
with object)
5. to become or make wan.
Use in Gatsby: “Her gray sun-strained eyes looked back at me
with polite reciprocal curiosity out of a wan, charming, discontented face”
(11).
4. Unobtrusively—adverb
1. Not
obtrusively
2. Inconspicuously
Use in Gatsby: “Sometimes she and Miss Baker talked at once,
unobtrusively and with a bantering inconsequence that was never quite chatter…”
(12).
5.
Rotogravure-- noun
1. a photomechanical process by which pictures,
typeset matter, etc., are printed from an intaglio copper cylinder.
2. a print made by this process.
3. a section of a newspaper consisting of pages printed by the
rotogravure process; magazine section.
Use in Gatsby: “I knew now why her face was familiar—its
pleasing contemptuous expression had looked out at me from many rotogravure
pictures of sporting life” (18).
6.
Supercilious—adjective
haughtily
disdainful or contemptuous, as a person or a facial expression.
Use in Gatsby: The supercilious assumption was that on
Sunday afternoon I had nothing better to do (24).
7. Pastoral-- adjective
1. having the simplicity, charm, serenity, or other characteristics
generally attributed to rural areas: pastoral scenery; the pastoral life.
2. pertaining to the country or to life in the country; rural;
rustic.
3. portraying or suggesting idyllically the life of shepherds or of
the country, as a work of literature, art,
or music: pastoral poetry; a pastoral symphony.
4. of, pertaining to, or consisting of shepherds.
Use in Gatsby: “We drove over to Fifth Avenue, so warm and
soft, almost pastoral, on the summer Sunday afternoon” (28).
8.
Hauteur—noun
haughty manner or
spirit; arrogance.
Use in Gatsby: “The intense vitality that had been so
remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur” (30).
9.
Prodigality—noun, plural -ties for 2, 3.
1. the quality or fact of being prodigal;
wasteful extravagance in spending.
2. an instance of it.
3. lavish abundance.
Use in Gatsby: “Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled
with prodigality, ripped out at a cheerful word” (40).
10.
florid—adjective
1. reddish; ruddy; rosy: a florid complexion.
2. flowery; excessively ornate; showy: florid writing.
3. Obsolete . abounding in or consisting of flowers.
Use in Gatsby: “I had expected that Mr. Gatsby would be a
florid and corpulent person in his middle years” (48).
11.
Corpulent— adjective
large or bulky of
body; portly; stout; fat.
Use in Gatsby: “I had expected that Mr. Gatsby would be a
florid and corpulent person in his middle years” (48).
12.
echolalia—noun
1. Psychiatry . the uncontrollable and immediate repetition of words spoken by
another person.
2. the imitation by a baby of the vocal sounds produced by others,
occurring as a natural phase of childhood development.
Use in Gatsby: “There
was a boom of a bass drum, and the voice of the orchestra leader ran out
suddenly above the echolalia of the garden” (49).
13.
Vinous—adjective
1. of, resembling, or containing wine.
3. produced by, indicative of, or given to indulgence in wine.
Use in Gatsby: “A humorous suggestion was made that she sing
the notes on her face, whereupon she threw up her hands, sank into a chair, and
went off into a deep vinous sleep” (51).
14.
caterwauling-- noun Also, cat·er·waul·ing.
4. the cry of a cat in rutting time.
5. any similar sound.
Use
in Gatsby: “The caterwauling horns had reached a crescendo…” (55).
15.
subterfuge—noun
an artifice or
expedient used to evade a rule, escape a consequence, hide something, etc.
Use
in Gatsby: “I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very
young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world” (58).
16.
insolent-- adjective
1. boldly rude or disrespectful; contemptuously impertinent;
insulting: an insolent reply.
Use
in Gatsby: “I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very
young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world” (58).
No comments:
Post a Comment