"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from Act 2

Learn these 15 words from Act 2 of Arthur Miller’s 1953 "The Crucible" -- a play that dramatized the late 17th century Salem witch trials and served as an allegory of McCarthyism. Here are the links to the word lists for all four acts of “The Crucible”: Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, and Act 4.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. falter
    be or become weak, unsteady, or uncertain
    Elizabeth: John, if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now?
  2. magistrate
    a lay judge or civil authority who administers the law
    The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you.
  3. pallor
    an unnatural lack of color in the skin
    Her strangeness throws him off, and her evident pallor and weakness.
  4. compensate
    do or give something to somebody in return
    When will you proceed to keep this house as you are paid nine pound a year to do -- and my wife not wholly well?
    as though to compensate, Mary Warren goes to Elizabeth with a small rag doll.
  5. brim
    the top edge of a vessel or other container
    Mary Warren: They had Doctor Griggs examine er, and she's full to the brim.
  6. marvel
    something that causes feelings of wonder
    But be that not a marvel?
  7. traffic
    deal illegally
    You will never believe I hope, that Rebecca trafficked with the Devil
  8. monstrous
    shockingly brutal or cruel
    No man may longer doubt the powers of the dark are gathered in monstrous attack upon this village.
  9. daft
    foolish or mentally irregular
    Proctor: I have never knew until tonight that the world is gone daft with this nonsense.
  10. reckon
    expect, believe, or suppose
    Proctor: I-- had not reckoned with goin' into court.
  11. warrant
    a judicial writ commanding police to perform specified acts
    I have a warrant for your wife.
  12. grapple
    grip or seize, as in a wrestling match
    Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretense is ripped away-- make your peace!
  13. pretense
    the act of giving a false appearance
    Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretense is ripped away-- make your peace!
  14. providence
    a manifestation of God's foresightful care for his creatures
    It is providence, and no great change; we are only what we always were, but naked now.
Created on Tue Oct 30 12:13:17 EDT 2012 (updated Wed Oct 30 20:10:25 EDT 2013)

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