Long Walk to Freedom: Part One

by Nelson Mandela
In this autobiography, the South African president describes his childhood, education, and the battles against Apartheid that led to his imprisonment for nearly thirty years.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Part One, Parts Two–Three, Parts Four–Five, Parts Six–Seven, Parts Eight–Nine, Parts Ten–Eleven
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. euphonious
    having a pleasant sound
    The Xhosa are a proud and patrilineal people with an expressive and euphonious language and an abiding belief in the importance of laws, education, and courtesy.
  2. straiten
    bring into difficulties, especially financial hardship
    He was deprived of most of his herd and land, and the revenue that came with them. Because of our straitened circumstances, my mother moved to Qunu, a slightly larger village north of Mvezo, where she would have the support of friends and relations.
  3. proselytize
    convert or try to convert someone to another religion
    Despite the proselytizing of the Mbekela brothers, my father remained aloof from Christianity and instead reserved his own faith for the great spirit of the Xhosas, Qamata, the God of his fathers.
  4. comeuppance
    a usually negative outcome or fate that is well deserved
    She said the devil would certainly take me to task for my sin. I felt an unpleasant mixture of fear and shame—fear that I would get some cosmic comeuppance and shame that I had abused the trust of my adopted family.
  5. propitious
    presenting favorable circumstances
    Unanimity, however, might be an agreement to disagree, to wait for a more propitious time to propose a solution.
  6. panegyric
    a formal expression of praise
    At the very end of the council, a praise-singer or poet would deliver a panegyric to the ancient kings, and a mixture of compliments to and satire on the present chiefs, and the audience, led by the regent, would roar with laughter.
  7. rarefied
    of high moral or intellectual value
    When I first arrived in Mqhekezweni I was regarded by some of my peers as a yokel who was hopelessly unequipped to exist in the rarefied atmosphere of the Great Place.
  8. upbraid
    express criticism towards
    At times, I even saw him upbraid them, though this was extremely rare.
  9. lackey
    a servile or submissive follower
    I realized then that Dr. Wellington was less than a god and Reverend Mokitimi more than a lackey, and that a black man did not have to defer automatically to a white, however senior he was.
  10. desultory
    marked by lack of definite plan, purpose, or enthusiasm
    I trained in a desultory way, and only years later, when I had put on a few more pounds, did I begin to box in earnest.
  11. interloper
    someone who intrudes on the privacy or property of another
    We cannot allow these foreigners who do not care for our culture to take over our nation. I predict that one day, the forces of African society will achieve a momentous victory over the interloper.
  12. parochial
    narrowly restricted in outlook or scope
    He had moved from a more nationalistic, all-encompassing theme of African unity to a more parochial one addressed to the Xhosa people, of whom he was one.
  13. platitude
    a trite or obvious remark
    From the start, I saw that Oliver’s intelligence was diamond-edged; he was a keen debater and did not accept the platitudes that so many of us automatically subscribed to.
  14. vacillate
    be undecided about something
    I did not dwell on the situation at Fort Hare, but life has a way of forcing decisions on those who vacillate.
  15. penchant
    a strong liking or preference
    The regent believed Justice and I brought out the worst in each other, or at least Justice’s penchant for adventures and high-jinks influenced my more conservative disposition.
Created on Tue Apr 15 20:06:43 EDT 2014 (updated Wed Jul 02 14:07:27 EDT 2025)

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