A Midsummer Night's Dream: Act 5

by William Shakespeare
In this comedy, two Athenian couples and a troupe of actors become unwitting pawns in a squabble between a fairy king and queen. Read the full text here.

Here are links to our lists for the play: Act I, Act II, Act III, Act IV, Act V

Here are links to our lists for other plays by William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Hamlet, King Lear, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Othello
12 words 5388 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. seething
    in constant agitation
    Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
    Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
    More than cool reason ever comprehends.
  2. transfigure
    completely change the nature or appearance of
    But all the story of the night told over,
    And all their minds transfigured so together,
    More witnesseth than fancy’s images
    And grows to something of great constancy.
  3. constancy
    the quality of being enduring and free from change
    But all the story of the night told over,
    And all their minds transfigured so together,
    More witnesseth than fancy’s images
    And grows to something of great constancy.
  4. revel
    unrestrained merrymaking
    What revels are in hand? Is there no play
    To ease the anguish of a torturing hour?
    Revels is used here in the sense of "festivities" or "entertainments."
  5. amiss
    not functioning properly
    For never anything can be amiss
    When simpleness and duty tender it.
  6. audacious
    invulnerable to fear or intimidation
    Trust me, sweet,
    Out of this silence yet I picked a welcome,
    And in the modesty of fearful duty,
    I read as much as from the rattling tongue
    Of saucy and audacious eloquence.
  7. cranny
    a small opening or crevice
    This loam, this roughcast, and this stone doth show
    That I am that same wall. The truth is so.
    And this the cranny is, right and sinister,
    Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.
  8. mote
    a tiny piece of anything
    A mote will turn the balance, which Pyramus, which Thisbe, is the better: he for a man, God warrant us; she for a woman, God bless us!
  9. wretch
    someone you feel sorry for
    Now the wasted brands do glow,
    Whilst the screech-owl, screeching loud,
    Puts the wretch that lies in woe
    In remembrance of a shroud.
  10. hallowed
    worthy of religious veneration
    Not a mouse
    Shall disturb this hallowed house.
    I am sent with broom before,
    To sweep the dust behind the door.
  11. rote
    memorization by repetition
    First rehearse your song by rote,
    To each word a warbling note.
    Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
    Will we sing and bless this place.
  12. prodigious
    of momentous or ominous significance
    Never mole, harelip, nor scar,
    Nor mark prodigious, such as are
    Despisèd in nativity,
    Shall upon their children be.
Created on Wed Oct 30 14:14:00 EDT 2013 (updated Tue Jul 15 16:55:08 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.