The Catcher in the Rye: Chapters 17-21

by J.D. Salinger
In J.D. Salinger's classic novel, Holden Caulfield leaves his prep school and experiences disillusionment and alienation while wandering around New York City.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1-5, Chapters 6-11, Chapters 12-16, Chapters 17-21, Chapters 22-26

Here are links to our lists for Salinger’s short stories: A Perfect Day for Bananafish,
Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, Just Before the War with the Eskimos, The Laughing Man, Down at the Dinghy, For Esmé–with Love and Squalor, Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes, De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period, Teddy
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. raspy
    unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound
    He had one of these very raspy voices, and he never stopped talking, practically.
  2. seductive
    tending to entice into a desired action or state
    At first she didn't want to, because she had her lipstick on and all, but I was being seductive as hell and she didn't have any alternative.
  3. nauseating
    causing disgust so strong it makes you feel sick
    It was nauseating.
  4. clique
    an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
    "It's full of phonies...and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques."
  5. sacrilegious
    grossly irreverent toward what is considered holy
    Sally said I was a sacrilegious atheist.
  6. fiancee
    a woman who is engaged to be married
    Marcia was Alec's fiancée before he lost his memory, and she recognizes him when he's in this store autographing books.
  7. furlough
    a temporary leave of absence, especially from military duty
    I was practically a child at the time, but I remember when he used to come home on furlough and all, all he did was lie on his bed, practically.
  8. aristocratic
    belonging to or characteristic of the nobility
    He kept telling her she had aristocratic hands.
  9. trend
    a general direction in which something tends to move
    "Must we pursue this horrible trend of thought?"
  10. inane
    devoid of intelligence
    "Not necessarily in China, for God's sake. The East I said. Must we go on with this inane conversation?"
  11. psychoanalysis
    a method for exploring mental phenomena and disorders
    "The patterns of your mind. Your mind runs in — Listen. I'm not giving an elementary course in psychoanalysis. If you're interested, call him up and make an appointment. If you're not, don't. I couldn't care less, frankly."
  12. boisterous
    noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
    The one thing I did, though, I was careful as hell not to get boisterous or anything.
  13. economize
    spend sparingly or avoid waste
    I walked over to Madison Avenue and started to wait around for a bus because I didn't have hardly any money left and I had to start economizing on cabs and all.
  14. chew the fat
    talk socially without exchanging too much information
    I had my door key with me and all, and I figured what I'd do, I'd sneak in the apartment, very quiet and all, and just sort of chew the fat with her for a while.
  15. foyer
    a large entrance or reception room or area
    It was dark as hell in the foyer, naturally, and naturally I couldn't turn on any lights.
Created on Thu Mar 14 09:07:58 EDT 2013 (updated Fri Jul 11 11:13:00 EDT 2025)

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