Music in Our Schools Month: Vocabulary from the Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim, Volume III

Not to toot our own horn, but this collection is sure to strike a chord with music lovers. We’ve remixed noteworthy biographies, pitch-perfect fiction, catchy song lyrics, and essential music terminology. These vocabulary lists will be music to your ears!
15 words 58 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. reticule
    a woman's drawstring handbag
    I'll take my reticule.
    I need my reticule.
    You mustn't think
    Me a fool
    But my reticule
    Never leaves my side,
    It's the only thing
    My mother gave me—
    Kiss me!
    -"Kiss Me," Sweeney Todd
  2. aver
    declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
    She says she loves another
    Another-
    -she says,
    A fella she prefers.
    Furs. Furs.
    She says that he's her idol.
    Idolidolidolidol-
    -she says.
    Ideal, she avers.
    You deal..."Avers"!!
    -"The-God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues," Follies
  3. uxorious
    foolishly fond of or submissive to your wife
    This glorious
    Terrible
    Victorious
    Unbearable
    Uproarious
    Irreparable
    Uxorious
    Occasion!
    -"One Wonderful Day," Saturday Night
  4. fraught
    filled with or attended with
    The situation's fraught
    Fraughter than I thought
    With horrible
    Impossible
    Possibilities
    -"Impossible," A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
  5. slake
    satisfy, as thirst
    Come slake your spiritual thirst
    Get kissed, get blessed
    Get fully immersed
    Get dry, get dressed
    "The Lame, the Halt and the Blind," Anyone Can Whistle
  6. scoff
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    Look, if you enjoy public disaster,
    If you like to snicker and scoff,
    You can be sick forty times faster:
    Go to a funeral, a funeral's groovy,
    Sit through an Antonioni movie
    Look into National Geographic
    Watch a pedestrian killed in traffic
    But sorry folks-
    This wedding is off!
    -"The Wedding is Off," Company
  7. unprepossessing
    creating an unfavorable or neutral first impression
    I know a grocery clerk
    Unprepossessing
    Some think the boy's a jerk.
    They have my blessing
    But when he starts to move
    He aims to please,
    Which only goes to prove
    That sometimes in a clerk you
    Find a Hercules
    -"Can That Boy Foxtrot!" Follies
  8. career
    move headlong at high speed
    First you're another
    Sloe-eyed vamp
    Then someone's mother
    Then you're camp
    Then you career
    From career to career
    I'm almost through my memoirs
    And I'm here
    -"I'm Still Here," Follies
    "Camp" is defined as "providing sophisticated amusement by virtue of having artificially (and vulgarly) mannered or banal or sentimental qualities."
  9. query
    pose a question
    In the depths of her interior
    Were fears she was inferior
    And something even eerier
    But no one dared to query her
    Superior
    Exterior
    -"Ah, But Underneath," Follies
  10. facade
    the front of a building
    It isn't enough
    To be
    A god
    You gotta convey it
    With a deity's
    Facade
    A god should look godlike
    With a bod like-
    Well, like mine-
    -"Dress Big," The Frogs
  11. molt
    cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers
    Is that just revolting?
    All greasy and gritty
    It looks like it's molting
    And tastes like-
    Well, pity
    A woman alone
    With limited wind
    And the worst pies in London!
    -"Worst Pies in London," Sweeney Todd
  12. ameliorate
    make better
    Ordinary daughters ameliorate their lot
    Use their charms and choose their futures
    Breed their children, heed their mothers
    Ordinary daughters, which mine I fear is not
    Tend each asset, spend it wisely
    While it still endures, mine tours
    -"The Glamorous Life," A Little Night Music
  13. raconteur
    a person skilled in telling anecdotes
    Raconteur
    Bon Vivant-
    Tell us sir
    What we want
    To know:
    The modus operandi
    A dandy
    Should use
    When he is feeling low.
    -"Live, Laugh, Love," Follies
  14. bon vivant
    a sociable person who enjoys fine food and luxury
    Raconteur
    Bon Vivant-
    Tell us sir
    What we want
    To know:
    The modus operandi
    A dandy
    Should use
    When he is feeling low.
    -"Live, Laugh, Love," Follies
  15. modus operandi
    an unvarying or habitual method or procedure
    Raconteur
    Bon Vivant-
    Tell us sir
    What we want
    To know:
    The modus operandi
    A dandy
    Should use
    When he is feeling low.
    -"Live, Laugh, Love," Follies
Created on Fri Dec 06 18:19:55 EST 2013 (updated Mon Mar 02 11:46:49 EST 2020)

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