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Unit 5: Part 3 Vocabulary II

35 words 3 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

  1. predilection
    a predisposition in favor of something
    This predilection for minding other people’s business was time-honored among the people of Salem, and it undoubtedly created many of the suspicions which were to feed the coming madness.
  2. ingratiating
    capable of winning favor
    They were a band of individualists, and a much more ingratiating group than the Massachusetts men.
  3. dissembling
    pretending with intention to deceive
    He is bending to kneel again when his niece, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS, seventeen, enters—a strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling.
  4. calumny
    a false accusation of an offense
    In Proctor’s presence a fool felt his foolishness instantly—and a Proctor is always marked for calumny therefore.
  5. inculcation
    teaching or impressing upon the mind by frequent instruction
    When it is recalled that until the Christian era the underworld was never regarded as a hostile area, that all gods were useful and essentially friendly to man despite occasional lapses; when we see the steady and methodical inculcation into humanity of the idea of man’s worthlessness—until redeemed—the necessity of the Devil may become evident as a weapon, a weapon designed and used time and time again in every age to whip men into a surrender to a particular church or church-state.
  6. propitiation
    the act of placating and overcoming distrust and animosity
    I have no doubt that people were communing with, and even worshiping, the Devil in Salem, and if the whole truth could be known in this case, as it is in others, we should discover a regular and conventionalized propitiation of the dark spirit.
  7. evade
    use cunning or deceit to escape or avoid
    You cannot evade me, Abigail. Did your cousin drink any of the brew in that kettle?
  8. pallor
    an unnatural lack of color in the skin
    Her strangeness throws him off, and her evident pallor and weakness.
  9. ameliorate
    make better
    He sentenced her. He must. To ameliorate it: But not Sarah Good. For Sarah Good confessed, y’see.
  10. avid
    marked by active interest and enthusiasm
    Aye, but then Judge Hathorne say, “Recite for us your commandments!”—leaning avidly toward them—and of all the ten she could not say a single one.
  11. base
    having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality
    Woman, am I so base? Do you truly think me base?
  12. deference
    courteous regard for people's feelings
    He is different now—drawn a little, and there is a quality of deference, even of guilt, about his manner now.
  13. theology
    the rational and systematic study of religion
    Mr. Proctor, your house is not a church; your theology must tell you that.
  14. contentious
    showing an inclination to disagree
    DANFORTH, looking directly at GILES: Who is this man?
    PARRIS: Giles Corey, sir, and a more contentious
    GILES, to PARRIS: I am asked the question, and I am old enough to answer it!
  15. deposition
    a pretrial interrogation of a witness
    She has signed a deposition, sir—
  16. imperceptible
    impossible or difficult to sense
    DANFORTH, now an almost imperceptible hardness in his voice: Then your purpose is somewhat larger.
  17. anonymity
    the state of being unknown
    Old man, if your informant tells the truth let him come here openly like a decent man. But if he hide in anonymity I must know why.
  18. effrontery
    audacious behavior that you have no right to
    This is a court of law, Mister. I’ll have no effrontery here!
  19. incredulously
    in a disbelieving manner
    DANFORTH, pointing at ABIGAIL, incredulously: This child would murder your wife?
  20. conciliatory
    intended to placate
    DANFORTH, conciliatory: You misunderstand, sir; I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just.
  21. beguile
    influence by slyness
    Now hear me, and beguile yourselves no more. I will not receive a single plea for pardon or postponement.
  22. retaliation
    action taken in return for an injury or offense
    If retaliation is your fear, know this—I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes.
  23. adamant
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
    Is he yet adamant? Has he struck at you again?
  24. cleave
    stick or hold together and resist separation
    Beware, Goody Proctor—cleave to no faith when faith brings blood.
  25. tantalize
    harass with persistent teasing or baiting
    He moves as an animal, and a fury is riding in him, a tantalized search.
  26. vulnerability
    the state of being exposed to harm
    This scene will be built with a lot of very tight close ups of crew and reporters. Everyone is very aware of their vulnerability.
  27. acknowledge
    express recognition of the presence or existence of
    He sits noticing The Boys. They give little waves, MURROW acknowledges them.
  28. statute
    an act passed by a legislative body
    That is the language of our statute of treason.
  29. disregard
    lack of attention and due care
    He proved again that anyone who exposes him, anyone who does not share his hysterical disregard to decency and human dignity and the rights guaranteed by the Constitution must be either a Communist or a fellow traveler.
  30. trial
    a legal process to determine someone's guilt or innocence
    Riffling back the pages of American history, he has written the drama of the witch trials and hangings in Salem in 1692.
  31. accusation
    an assertion that someone is guilty of a fault or offense
    Silly accusations of witchcraft by some mischievous girls in Puritan dress gradually take possession of Salem.
  32. tribunal
    an assembly to conduct judicial business
    It is no coincidence that both Day-Lewis and Allen, finely drawn as the wife uncertain of her husband’s love, flourish in their scenes with Scofield as Judge Danforth, the somber leader of a tribunal sent to investigate the witchcraft allegations.
  33. adaptation
    a written work that has been recast in a new form
    In The New York Times, Janet Maslin called it a “vibrant” and “beautifully acted” adaptation of Mr. Miller’s 1953 play about witch hunts and marital betrayal in 17th-century Salem, Mass.
  34. defend
    argue or speak in justification of
    The prompt does not simply require you to express your personal opinions. Instead, it asks you to defend and support. To do so, cite convincing and varied evidence.
  35. support
    establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts
    The prompt does not simply require you to express your personal opinions. Instead, it asks you to defend and support. To do so, cite convincing and varied evidence.
Created on Mon Oct 19 15:46:43 EDT 2020 (updated Mon Oct 26 15:59:48 EDT 2020)

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