Othello: Act 4

by William Shakespeare
Influenced by the duplicitous Iago, Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army, begins to doubt his wife's faithfulness. Read the full text here.

Here are links to our lists for the play: Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Act 4, Act 5
15 words 8005 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. venial
    easily excused or forgiven
    If they do nothing, ’tis a venial slip.
  2. anon
    (old-fashioned or informal) in a little while
    I shifted him away
    And laid good ’scuses upon your ecstasy,
    Bade him anon return and here speak with me,
    The which he promised.
  3. gibe
    an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile
    Do but encave yourself,
    And mark the fleers, the gibes, and notable scorns
    That dwell in every region of his face.
  4. dote
    shower with love; show excessive affection for
    It is a creature
    That dotes on Cassio—as ’tis the strumpet’s plague
    To beguile many and be beguiled by one.
  5. beguile
    attract; cause to be enamored
    It is a creature
    That dotes on Cassio—as ’tis the strumpet’s plague
    To beguile many and be beguiled by one.
  6. construe
    make sense of; assign a meaning to
    As he shall smile, Othello shall go mad,
    And his unbookish jealousy must construe
    Poor Cassio’s smiles, gestures, and light behaviors
    Quite in the wrong.
  7. fain
    in a willing manner
    Well, I may chance to see you, for I would very fain speak with you.
  8. plenteous
    affording an abundant supply
    O, she will sing the savageness out of a bear!
    Of so high and plenteous wit and invention!
  9. expostulate
    reason with for the purpose of dissuasion
    Get me some poison, Iago, this night. I’ll not expostulate with her lest her body and beauty unprovide my mind again. This night, Iago.
  10. censure
    harsh criticism or disapproval
    He’s that he is. I may not breathe my censure
    What he might be. If what he might he is not,
    I would to heaven he were.
  11. insinuate
    suggest in an indirect or covert way; give to understand
    I will be hanged if some eternal villain,
    Some busy and insinuating rogue,
    Some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office,
    Have not devised this slander.
  12. cozen
    act with artful deceit
    I will be hanged if some eternal villain,
    Some busy and insinuating rogue,
    Some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office,
    Have not devised this slander.
  13. seamy
    morally degraded
    O, fie upon them! Some such squire he was
    That turned your wit the seamy side without
    And made you to suspect me with the Moor.
  14. forswear
    formally reject or disavow
    If e’er my will did trespass ’gainst his love,
    Either in discourse of thought or actual deed,
    Or that mine eyes, mine ears, or any sense
    Delighted them in any other form,
    Or that I do not yet, and ever did,
    And ever will—though he do shake me off
    To beggarly divorcement—love him dearly,
    Comfort forswear me!
  15. mettle
    the courage to carry on
    Why, now I see there’s mettle in thee, and even from this instant do build on thee a better opinion than ever before.
Created on Thu Feb 21 22:04:33 EST 2013 (updated Tue Aug 12 12:24:37 EDT 2025)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.