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Vocabulary List - The Handmaid’s Tale
1. Anachronisms - n. – something out of its proper time. Example – Shakespeare’s Romeo calling Juliette in her cellie.
2. Blatant - adj. – completely (and often offensively) obvious. Example – A person at a funeral blah, blahing on their phone!
3. Ceremony: A formal act. "The ceremony goes as usual" Page 93.
4. Contaminate: To sicken or spread to. "...flesh sickens and contaminates her..." Page 95.
5. Covet - v. – to desire or want excessively.
6. Covert – adj. – concealed; hidden; secret. Ex. A covert mission for the FBI.
7. Decorum - n. – appropriateness of behavior or conduct.
8. Demure – adj. – modest and reserved in behavior.
9. Diminutive – adj. – small in size.
10. Disconsolate – adj. – hopelessly sad
11. Eccentric: Outside of the norm. "...the gold fingernail she wore to be eccentric..." Page 37.
12. Ethereality: Highly refined, delicate. "...both ethereality and matter..." Page 93.
13. Eunuch: A castrated man. "...a eunuch in the background, standing guard..." Page 69.
14. Furtive – adj. – sly and sneaky.
15. Gauziness: Thin fabric covered. "...by the gauziness of its fabric..." Page 93.
16. Genteel – adj. – refined in manner; polite.
17. Glimmering: A dim flash of light. "....glimmering in the aura cast by the searchlight...." Page 96.
18. Hazardous: Marked by danger. "...risker, more hazardous..." Page 40.
19. Incognito – adj. – the state of being disguised or concealed.
20. Insatiability: Impossible to satisfy. "...that talent for insatiability?" Page 2.
21. Ingratiate – v. – to try to get on the good side of someone; blatantly sucking up.
22. Interpreter: A person who translates languages. "..says the interpreter again, to catch our attention..." Page 29.
23. Loathing: Great dislike. "...loathing in her voice..." Page 95.
24. Menial – adj. – pertaining to a job seen as servile or lowly.
25. Irreverent – adj. disrespectful; especially toward sacred things or accepted standards.
26. Jaunty – adj. crisp and dapper in appearance; well-bred.
27. Lugubrious – adj. – exaggerated mourning.
28. Nostalgic – adj. – a bittersweet longing for things past.
29. Obligatory – adj. – mandatory; compulsory.
30. Palimpsest – n. – a written document, often on vellum or parchment, that has been written on several times with remnants of the previous writing still visible.
31. Parody – n. – a literary or artistic work that mimics an author’s style and hold it up to ridicule.
32. Pedantic – adj. – characterized by narrow and often ostentatious concern for book learning and rules.
33. Precedent – n. – an act or instance that may be used as an example for future cases.
34. Pungent – adj. – a strong or sharp taste or smell (not necessarily bad). "...the pungent smell of sweat..." Page 1.
35. Quagmire – n. – 1. a swamp. 2. A difficult situation.
36. Reproach – v. – to blame for something; scold.
37. Sacrilege – n. – the desecration, misuse or theft of something sacred.
38. Sanctity – n. – holiness of life; saintliness.
39. Sparse – adj. – growing or settled at widely spaced intervals.
40. Spindly – adj. – 1. slender and elongated. 2. Of weak growth.
41. Sterile: Incapable of reproducing. "...he's a forbidden word. Sterile..." Page 61.
42. Tokens: A coin-like version of currency. "...hand their tokens across it..." Page 25.
43. Treacherous: Not to be relied on. "...a treacherous smell, and I know I must shut it out..." Page 47.
44. Undulate – v. – moving in a wavelike manner.
45. Surreptitiously – adv. – done in a sneaky or sly manner.
46. Unfathomable – adj. – unable to be misunderstood or measured.
47. Wheedle – v. – to persuade by flattery or guile.
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