English Scarlet Letter Vocabulary

Front 1

Puritan

Back 1

a member of a class of Protestants(Christians) that arose in the 16th century within the Church of England, demanding a purification or simplification of doctrine and worship and greater strictness in religous discipline.

Front 2

puritanical

Back 2

excessively strict in moral and religious matters; austere; disciplined

Front 3

theocracy

Back 3

a form of gov in which God is recognized as the supreme civil ruler, His laws being interpreted by church authorities

Front 4

predestination

Back 4

the belief that God from the beginning of time has foreordained whatever comes to pass; the decree from God as to which souls will be "saved" and attain eternal life

Front 5

the elect

Back 5

those people chosen by God for salvation and eternal life

Front 6

grace

Back 6

the freely given, unearned and unmerited love and mercy of God

Front 7

Utopia

Back 7

a place or state of ideal perfection

Front 8

sepulchre

Back 8

tomb, grave, burial place

Front 9

ponderous

Back 9

massive, heavy, awkward

Front 10

inauspicious

Back 10

unfortunate, unfavorable, boding ill

Front 11

physiognomy

Back 11

the face or countenance; outward appearance of anything which offers some insight into its character or nature.

Front 12

indubitable

Back 12

unquestionable, undoubted, certain

Front 13

**scourge

Back 13

to whip severely; a whip or an instrument for flogging

Front 14

magistrate

Back 14

a civil official charged with the administration of the law; a minor judicial officer of justice of the peace

Front 15

demeanor

Back 15

outward behavior; manner, conduct

Front 16

venerable

Back 16

commanding respect because of great age or dignity; worthy of reverence

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infamy

Back 17

evil reputation or strong condemnation as a result of a shameful, criminal, or outrageous act.

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malefactress

Back 18

a criminal; a woman who breaks the law or does evil; felon, offender.

Front 19

**beadle

Back 19

an official who leads processions;a religious officer.

Front 20

sumptuary

Back 20

having to do with legal power of state to regulate personal habits which offend moral beliefs of the community

Front 21

evanescent

Back 21

vanishing, fleeting, impermanent, scarcelyperceptible

Front 22

**ignominy

Back 22

disgrace, shame, dishonor, public contempt(one theme of the book)

Front 23

**iniquity

Back 23

wickidness,sin, gross injustice

Front 24

**scaffold

Back 24

en elevated platform on which a criminal is executed or exhibited to a crowd

Front 25

redeem

Back 25

to deliver from sin and its consequences by a sacrifice offered for the sinner

Front 26

preternatural

Back 26

exceptional, abnormal, excessive

Front 27

phantasmagoric

Back 27

having to do with a shifting series of imaginative phantasms, illusions or deceptive appearences as in a dream

Front 28

gentility

Back 28

politeness of manners; graceful behavior; manners of well-bred people

Front 29

countenance

Back 29

appearence, especially the look or expression on a persons face

Front 30

sagacity

Back 30

acuteness of mental discernment and soundness of judgement; wisdom

Front 31

lurid

Back 31

glowing through a haze..like flames enveloped by smoke

Front 32

alchemy

Back 32

an art, practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, concerned primarily with discovering how to transform base metals into gold and with finding a universal elixir of life.

Front 33

efficacy

Back 33

effectiveness, power to produce results

Front 34

**leech

Back 34

archaic term meaning physician

Front 35

enjoin

Back 35

to order; to command; to impose upon

Front 36

paramour

Back 36

lover; sweetheart

Front 37

besmirch

Back 37

to foul; to soil; to dishonor; to sully