Scarlet Letter Vocab

Front 1

Abase

Back 1

to degrade, to humiliate

Front 2

Abate

Back 2

to reduce in intensity or amount

Front 3

Abstruse

Back 3

Difficult to understand, recondite, concealed

Front 4

Abyss

Back 4

Bottomless hole, a vast expanse or depth

Front 5

Acuity

Back 5

Sharpness of perception

Front 6

Affinity

Back 6

A likeness, a natural relationship, a kinship

Front 7

Alacrity

Back 7

prompt and cheerful response

Front 8

Alchemist

Back 8

One who practices medieval chemistry or tries to change metals into gold

Front 9

Alloy

Back 9

A substance that is a mixture of metals

Front 10

Amenable

Back 10

open to or willing to follow advice or suggestion, tractable, malleable

Front 11

Antipathy

Back 11

A dislike, distaste, or enmity

Front 12

Append

Back 12

to add in a supplementary manner

Front 13

Arduous

Back 13

very difficult to accomplish or to achieve, very demanding (task)

Front 14

Ascend

Back 14

to move upward, to rise from a lower station

Front 15

Ascetic

Back 15

one who leads a life of self-denial and contemplation; absent of luxury

Front 16

Audacity

Back 16

excessive boldness, rashness, daring

Front 17

Augury

Back 17

an omen or prophecy

Front 18

Auspicious

Back 18

favorable

Front 19

Austere

Back 19

strict, stern; unadorned, ascetic

Front 20

Balm

Back 20

a soothing substance or one that gives relief

Front 21

Benevolence

Back 21

kindness, generosity, charity

Front 22

Benign

Back 22

not causing harm, of gentle disposition, beneficial

Front 23

Betoken

Back 23

to give a sign of

Front 24

Blighted

Back 24

destroyed or caused by decline or decay

Front 25

Buoyant

Back 25

capable of floating; cheerful

Front 26

Burnish

Back 26

to make shiny or to polish by rubbing

Front 27

Calamity

Back 27

a serious event causing distress or misfortune

Front 28

Capricious

Back 28

changing suddenly, fickle

Front 29

Consecrate

Back 29

to dedicate or to declare sacred

Front 30

Credible

Back 30

reliable and believable

Front 31

Dearth

Back 31

a lack, a scarcity

Front 32

Decorousness

Back 32

proper behavior

Front 33

Decorum

Back 33

appropriate conduct, correct and proper behavior

Front 34

Deleterious

Back 34

Harmful; dangerous; injurious

Front 35

Depravity

Back 35

moral crruption, a wicked or perverse act

Front 36

Derision

Back 36

scoffing at, mockery, ridicule

Front 37

Despondency

Back 37

depression, dejection

Front 38

Despotic

Back 38

ruling oppressively and absolutely; tyrannical

Front 39

Discern

Back 39

to differentiate between two or more things

Front 40

Duplicity

Back 40

double-dealing, hypocrisy

Front 41

Edifice

Back 41

a very large building

Front 42

Effervescent

Back 42

showing high spirits

Front 43

Endow

Back 43

to provide with income or property, to supply with a talent or quality

Front 44

Enmity

Back 44

absolute hatred

Front 45

Entreaty

Back 45

a plea, an earnest request

Front 46

Enumerate

Back 46

to count one by one

Front 47

Erudite

Back 47

scholarly

Front 48

Esoteric

Back 48

understood only by a small group or a select few

Front 49

Estrange

Back 49

to alienate, to separate

Front 50

Ethreal

Back 50

Heavenly, unusually delicate, light, lacking material substance, intangible

Front 51

Eulogy

Back 51

praise or tribute

Front 52

Evanescent

Back 52

Fleeting; impermanenet

Front 53

Exigent

Back 53

urgent, requiring immediate attention

Front 54

Expiate

Back 54

to atone or to make amends for a sin or a crime

Front 55

Extant

Back 55

still in existence

Front 56

Fervent

Back 56

ardent, showing great emotion, impassioned

Front 57

Florid

Back 57

flowery, flushed with color

Front 58

Foliage

Back 58

leaves of a plant, leafage

Front 59

Forbearance

Back 59

patience, lenience

Front 60

Foreboding

Back 60

premonitition of evil, an ominous omen

Front 61

Fugitive

Back 61

a person who is elusive or hard to find, wandering

Front 62

Furrow

Back 62

to make wrinkles or grooves

Front 63

Gaunt

Back 63

very thin, emaciated, angular

Front 64

Gentility

Back 64

state of refinement, member of the upper class or gentry

Front 65

Gratuitous

Back 65

given freely, unwarranted

Front 66

Grievous

Back 66

characterized by severe suffering or sorrow, serious or grave

Front 67

Ignominy

Back 67

Disgraceful or dishonorable conduct

Front 68

Imbibe

Back 68

to absorb or to drink in

Front 69

Imperious

Back 69

extremely overbearing

Front 70

Implicit

Back 70

understood but not directly expressed

Front 71

Import

Back 71

relative importance, significance

Front 72

Impugn

Back 72

to assail or to attack one's honor or integrity

Front 73

Impute

Back 73

to blame or to charge

Front 74

Inauspicious

Back 74

unfavorable

Front 75

Incantation

Back 75

a spell, written or recited formula of words designed for a particular effect

Front 76

Inclement

Back 76

stormy, severe

Front 77

Incongruity

Back 77

nonconformity, disagreement, incompatibility

Front 78

Incurious

Back 78

uninterested, lacking normal curiosity

Front 79

Indefatigable

Back 79

tireless, incapable of being fatigued

Front 80

Inextricable

Back 80

not able to be disentangled

Front 81

Infamous

Back 81

having a reputation of the worst kind, vicious, notoriously bad

Front 82

Inopportune

Back 82

inconvenient, poorly timed

Front 83

Inscrutable

Back 83

difficult to understand; mysterious

Front 84

Insidious

Back 84

treacherous or dangerous in a secret sort of way

Front 85

Inverterate

Back 85

firmly established, habitual, deep rooted

Front 86

Inviolable

Back 86

secure from violation or from being profaned

Front 87

Jocular

Back 87

jesting or joking

Front 88

Jollity

Back 88

merriment, state of being jolly

Front 89

Labyrinthine

Back 89

like a maze, very convoluted and intricate

Front 90

Lament

Back 90

to mourn or to express sorrow in a demonstrative manner

Front 91

Languid

Back 91

slow,sluggish, listless,weak

Front 92

Laud

Back 92

to praise, to extol

Front 93

Loquacious

Back 93

very talkative

Front 94

Lurid

Back 94

Sensational, gruesome and causing shock or horror

Front 95

Magnate

Back 95

a person of power and influence

Front 96

Malefactor

Back 96

a criminal

Front 97

Malevolence

Back 97

ill will or evil intentions

Front 98

Malicious

Back 98

motivated by hate or deliberate intent to harm

Front 99

Malleable

Back 99

capable of being shaped, influenced, or altered; tractable

Front 100

Melancholy

Back 100

depression of spirits

Front 101

Mirth

Back 101

gladness and merriment usually accompanied by laughter

Front 102

Misanthrope

Back 102

a hater of mankind

Front 103

Mollify

Back 103

to soothe or to appease, to assuage

Front 104

Oblivion

Back 104

state of being forgotten

Front 105

Obscure

Back 105

difficult to see, vague

Front 106

Obtuse

Back 106

dull of mind, insensitive, stupid

Front 107

Obviates

Back 107

makes unecessary, prevents as a result of anticipating

Front 108

Odious

Back 108

deserving hate or contempt

Front 109

Ominous

Back 109

threatening

Front 110

Opaque

Back 110

not allowing the passage of light, not transparent; hard to understand

Front 111

Palliate

Back 111

to ease pain, guilt or intensity

Front 112

Pallor

Back 112

extreme paleness usually relating to the face

Front 113

Palpable

Back 113

tangible, perceptible, easily noticeable

Front 114

Peal

Back 114

a loud ringing (usually of bells)

Front 115

Penitent

Back 115

showing or feeling regret for wrongdoing, repentant

Front 116

Petty

Back 116

small and insignificant

Front 117

Petulance

Back 117

unreasonable touchiness or irritability

Front 118

Piety

Back 118

devotion and reverence to God

Front 119

Placid

Back 119

peaceful, calm

Front 120

Plaintive

Back 120

mournful and expressing sorrow

Front 121

Pompous

Back 121

exaggerated show of dignity or self-importance, bombastic

Front 122

Ponderous

Back 122

very heavy, unwieldy from weight

Front 123

Portal

Back 123

a doorway (especially a large one)

Front 124

Portent

Back 124

a sign or forewarning

Front 125

Posterity

Back 125

future generations, all descendants of a person

Front 126

Potent

Back 126

powerful,having a strong effect

Front 127

Potentate

Back 127

a monarch, very powerful ruler, sovereign

Front 128

Prattle

Back 128

meaningless sounds, babble

Front 129

Precipice

Back 129

a very steep cliff or mass of rock, the brink of something dangerous

Front 130

Precocious

Back 130

exceptionally early in development or occurrence

Front 131

Predilection

Back 131

preference

Front 132

Primeval

Back 132

ancient, relating to the earliest ages

Front 133

Prolific

Back 133

abundantly fruitful, marked by great productivity

Front 134

Propensity

Back 134

preference, natural inclination

Front 135

Propinquity

Back 135

nearness; kinship

Front 136

Propriety

Back 136

correct conduct

Front 137

Quaint

Back 137

unusual in character or appearance

Front 138

Regimen

Back 138

the regular process, procedure, or system of doing something

Front 139

Remonstrate

Back 139

to protest, to make objections

Front 140

Replete

Back 140

filled to capacity, abundantly supplied

Front 141

Requite

Back 141

to make repayment or to return

Front 142

Revere

Back 142

to honor, to regard with respect

Front 143

Rotund

Back 143

very plump, round

Front 144

Sagacious

Back 144

wise, shrewd, very discerning

Front 145

Scintillating

Back 145

sparkling, shining, or flashing

Front 146

Sedulously

Back 146

very diligent, accomplishing with painstaking care

Front 147

Sentinel

Back 147

one who keeps guard as a sentry

Front 148

Solace

Back 148

to comfort or to cheer

Front 149

Stalwart

Back 149

one who supports a cause with firm partisanship

Front 150

Superfluous

Back 150

beyond what is needed or required, an overflow

Front 151

Tarry

Back 151

to delay in coming or going, to linger

Front 152

Tempestuous

Back 152

turbulent, stormy

Front 153

Tome

Back 153

a book that is a larger volume

Front 154

Torpid

Back 154

sluggish, inactive, dull

Front 155

Unobtrusive

Back 155

not readily noticeable, inconspicuous

Front 156

Vagrant

Back 156

a wanderer who does not have a home

Front 157

Venerate

Back 157

to honor, to revere

Front 158

Vicissitude

Back 158

a passing from one thing to another, change of luck

Front 159

Virtuous

Back 159

having excellent morals; righteous

Front 160

Vista

Back 160

a distant view seen through an opening

Front 161

Vitiated

Back 161

impaired, corrupted, or made ineffective

Front 162

Voluminous

Back 162

marked by great volume or size

Front 163

Voluptuous

Back 163

pleasurable to the senses, sensuous

Front 164

Wan

Back 164

very pale and sickly

Front 165

Witticism

Back 165

a clever and witty remark

Front 166

Zenith

Back 166

the highest point overhead, peak