Girl with a Pearl Earring: 1665

by Tracy Chevalier
In seventeenth-century Holland, Griet's life is changed when she poses for a portrait by the brilliant painter Johannes Vermeer.

Learn these word lists for the novel: 1664, 1665, 1666 and1676
15 words 64 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. unpredictable
    not capable of being foretold
    March was an unpredictable month, when it was never clear what might happen.
  2. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    As I filled them I chided myself for being angry with my father.
  3. remedy
    a medicine or therapy that cures disease or relieves pain
    I had never been to an apothecary, not even before I became a maid—my mother had made all of our remedies.
  4. palette
    a board on which an artist mixes paints
    He did not pick up his palette or his knife or his brushes.
  5. slacken
    make less active or fast
    She began to slacken her work, and blamed it on not getting enough sleep.
  6. exotic
    strikingly strange or unusual
    Her hair had been dressed in braids and ribbons, and as long as she kept her happy expression she was very beautiful, the combination of her blond hair and light brown eyes making her look exotic.
  7. impurity
    the condition of having extraneous elements
    From him I learned too how to wash substances to rid them of impurities and bring out the true colors.
  8. extract
    remove by the process of distillation
    Lapis lazuli was so expensive, and the process of extracting a pure blue from the stone so difficult, that he worked with it himself.
  9. stifled
    held in check or kept back with difficulty
    Only I heard the stifled giggle from the hallway.
  10. dismissive
    showing indifference or disregard
    He was patient with me when I became tongue-tied or sharp or dismissive.
  11. serrated
    notched like a saw with teeth pointing toward the apex
    The scallop shape at the end of it was longer and more curved, and there were tiny serrated marks on each panel of the scallop.
  12. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    I nodded and let my eyes rest on her gnarled hands as they fumbled with a pipe.
  13. bravado
    a swaggering show of courage
    Underneath his bravado I sensed he was angry with me.
  14. formidable
    extremely impressive in strength or excellence
    She was a formidable woman, astute in business, certain of her place, but she was not van Ruijven.
  15. astute
    marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
    She was a formidable woman, astute in business, certain of her place, but she was not van Ruijven.
Created on Thu Aug 22 20:30:53 EDT 2013 (updated Mon Jul 28 11:16:36 EDT 2025)

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