A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Chapter 3

by James Joyce
In this modernist classic, Stephen Dedalus develops into an artist and challenges the traditional Irish values with which he grew up. Read the full text here.

Here are links to our lists from the book: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Here are links to our lists for other works by James Joyce: Araby, The Dead
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. lucid
    capable of thinking in a clear and consistent manner
    A cold lucid indifference reigned in his soul.
  2. grievous
    of great gravity or crucial import
    His pride in his own sin, his loveless awe of God, told him that his offense was too grievous to be atoned for in whole or in part by a false homage to the All-seeing and All-knowing.
  3. homage
    respectful deference
    His pride in his own sin, his loveless awe of God, told him that his offence was too grievous to be atoned for in whole or in part by a false homage to the All-seeing and All-knowing.
  4. consecrated
    made, declared, or believed to be holy
    Does a tiny particle of the consecrated bread contain all the body and blood of Jesus Christ or a part only of the body and blood?
  5. fervently
    with strong emotion or zeal
    And if, as may so happen, there be at this moment in these benches any poor soul who has had the unutterable misfortune to lose God's holy grace and to fall into grievous sin, I fervently trust and pray that this retreat may be the turning point in the life of that soul.
  6. presumptuous
    going beyond what is appropriate, permitted, or courteous
    The words of doom cried by the angel shattered in an instant his presumptuous peace.
  7. resplendent
    having great beauty
    Adam and Eve were then created by God and placed in Eden, in the plain of Damascus, that lovely garden resplendent with sunlight and colour, teeming with luxuriant vegetation.
  8. prodigious
    great in size, force, extent, or degree
    The brimstone, too, which burns there in such prodigious quantity fills all hell with its intolerable stench...
  9. impenetrable
    permitting little if any light to pass through
    Every sense of the flesh is tortured...the eyes with impenetrable utter darkness...
  10. noisome
    offensively malodorous
    Every sense of the flesh is tortured...the nose with noisome odors...
  11. execration
    an appeal to a supernatural power to inflict evil on someone
    Every sense of the flesh is tortured...the ears with yells and howls and execrations...
  12. noxious
    injurious to physical or mental health
    Evil company on earth is so noxious that the plants, as if by instinct, withdraw from the company of whatsoever is deadly or hurtful to them.
  13. contrition
    sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation
    The elbow of his companion touched him and his heart was touched: and when he spoke to answer a question of his master he heard his own voice full of the quietude of humility and contrition.
  14. manifold
    many and varied; having many features or forms
    What must it be, then, to bear the manifold tortures of hell for ever?
  15. venial
    warranting only temporal punishment
    They reason thus because they are unable to comprehend that even venial sin is of such a foul and hideous nature...
Created on Mon Aug 29 15:55:51 EDT 2016 (updated Fri Jul 18 15:28:03 EDT 2025)

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