Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) Tribute List

Terry Pratchett, creator of the Discworld series of novels, died on March 12, 2015 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 66. The Discworld series is 40 books long, but pick up any one of them, open to any page, and there will be great insight and humor waiting for you. Here are ten quotes from the immense body of work of this funny and wise author.
10 words 479 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. ineffable
    defying expression or description
    God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.
    — Good Omens (co-written with Neil Gaiman)
  2. genteel
    marked by refinement in taste and manners
    A good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read.
    —Guards! Guards!
  3. foible
    a minor weakness or peculiarity in someone's character
    I particularly admire ...Mark Twain and Jerome K. Jerome who wrote in a certain tone of voice which was humane and understanding of humanity, but always ready to annotate its little foibles. I think I'd lay my cards down on that, and say that it's that that I'm trying to do.
  4. infidel
    a person who does not acknowledge your god
    You can't trample infidels when you're a tortoise. I mean, all you could do is give them a meaningful look.
    —Small Gods
  5. cynicism
    a pessimistic feeling of distrust
    “If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.”
    ― Guards! Guards!
  6. concatenation
    the act of linking together as in a series or chain
    When someone is saved from certain death by a strange concatenation of circumstances, they say that's a miracle. But of course if someone is killed by a freak chain of events -- the oil spilled just there, the safety fence broken just there -- that must also be a miracle. Just because it's not nice doesn't mean it's not miraculous.
    — Interesting Times
  7. hamper
    prevent the progress or free movement of
    His progress through life was hampered by his tremendous sense of his own ignorance, a disability which affects all too few.
    ― Maskerade
  8. facet
    a smooth surface (as of a bone or cut gemstone)
    Mister Teatime had a truly brilliant mind, but it was brilliant like a fractured mirror, all marvellous facets and rainbows but, ultimately, also something that was broken.
    ― Hogfather
  9. erratic
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
    Juliet's version of cleanliness was next to godliness, which was to say it was erratic, past all understanding and was seldom seen.
    ―Unseen Academicals
  10. nonchalant
    marked by casual unconcern or indifference
    He moved in a way that suggested he was attempting the world speed record for the nonchalant walk.
    ― The Light Fantastic
Created on Thu Mar 12 15:13:41 EDT 2015 (updated Thu Mar 12 16:45:32 EDT 2015)

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.