Animal Farm: Chapters 9-10

by George Orwell
What would happen if the Russian Revolution of 1917 took place on a small English farm? This provocative novella blends fable, satire, and allegory while grappling with some of the twentieth-century's most consequential political ideas.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1-2, Chapters 3-4, Chapters 5-6, Chapters 7-8, Chapters 9-10

Here are links to our lists for other works by George Orwell: 1984, Politics and the English Language, Shooting an Elephant
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. poultice
    a medical dressing spread on a cloth and applied to the skin
    Clover treated the hoof with poultices of herbs which she prepared by chewing them, and both she and Benjamin urged Boxer to work less
    hard.
  2. superannuated
    too old to be useful
    Now that the small field beyond the orchard had been set aside for barley, it was rumoured that a corner of the large pasture was to be fenced off and turned into a grazing-ground for superannuated animals.
  3. piebald
    having sections or patches colored differently and brightly
    The young pigs were piebald, and as Napoleon was the only boar on the farm, it was possible to guess at their parentage.
  4. spontaneous
    said or done without having been planned in advance
    Napoleon had commanded that once a week there should be held something called a Spontaneous Demonstration, the object of which was to celebrate the struggles and triumphs of Animal Farm.
  5. complicity
    guilt as a confederate in a crime or offense
    On the same day it was given out that fresh documents had been discovered which revealed further details about Snowball’s complicity with Jones.
  6. uproarious
    marked by boisterous merriment or convulsive laughter
    That night there was the sound of uproarious singing, which was followed by what sounded like a violent quarrel and ended at about eleven o’clock with a tremendous crash of glass.
  7. morose
    showing a brooding ill humor
    Only old Benjamin was much the same as ever, except for being a little greyer about the muzzle, and, since Boxer’s death, more morose and taciturn than ever.
  8. taciturn
    habitually reserved and uncommunicative
    Only old Benjamin was much the same as ever, except for being a little greyer about the muzzle, and, since Boxer’s death, more morose and taciturn than ever.
  9. insoluble
    without hope of solution
    There was nothing with which they could compare their present lives: they had nothing to go upon except Squealer’s lists of figures, which invariably demonstrated that everything was getting better and better. The animals found the problem insoluble; in any case, they had little time for speculating on such things now.
  10. subversive
    in opposition to an established system or government
    For a long time there had been rumours — circulated, he had reason to think, by some malignant enemy — that there was something subversive and even revolutionary in the outlook of himself and his colleagues.
  11. suppress
    put down by force or authority
    Hitherto the animals on the farm had had a rather foolish custom of addressing one another as “Comrade.” This was to be suppressed.
  12. dregs
    a small part that remains after the main part is gone
    There was the same hearty cheering as before, and the mugs were emptied to the dregs.
  13. eminent
    standing above others in quality or position
    There, round the long table, sat half a dozen farmers and half a dozen of the more eminent pigs, Napoleon himself occupying the seat of honour at the head of the table.
  14. incumbent
    necessary as a duty or responsibility; morally binding
    But before doing so, there were a few words that he felt it incumbent upon him to say.
  15. misgiving
    uneasiness about the fitness of an action
    There had been a time — not that he, or any of the present company, had shared such sentiments — but there had been a time when the respected proprietors of Animal Farm had been regarded, he would not say with hostility, but perhaps with a certain measure of misgiving, by their human neighbours.
Created on Thu Dec 20 22:58:10 EST 2012 (updated Mon Jul 28 14:24:05 EDT 2025)

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