Circe: Chapters 11–15

by Madeline Miller
This acclaimed novel retells the myth of Circe, a witch who is banished to a remote island.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–15, Chapters 16–20, Chapters 21–27
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. complicity
    guilt as a confederate in a crime or offense
    I had been so consumed with the Minotaur that I had not seen what a triumph this had all been for her. Not just the monster and her new fame, but everything that went with it: Daedalus forced into complicity, Minos cringing and humiliated, and all of Crete held hostage to fear.
  2. sanctimonious
    excessively or hypocritically pious
    You are like Father, stupid and sanctimonious, closing your eyes to everything you do not understand.
  3. transmute
    change or alter in form, appearance, or nature
    His limbs turned gray and nerveless, and all his strength was transmuted into smoke.
  4. ambivalence
    mixed feelings or emotions
    But guilt and shame, remorse, ambivalence, those are foreign countries to our kind, which must be learned stone by stone.
  5. restive
    in a very tense state
    By then, the people of Crete were restive at having to lose their sons and daughters every harvest, and were threatening revolt.
  6. miasma
    an unwholesome atmosphere
    That unwholesome air had thickened, coating everything with an oily heaviness. Miasma, it was called. Pollution. It rose from unpurified crimes, from deeds done against the gods, and from the unsanctified spilling of blood.
  7. forswear
    formally reject or disavow
    This was a more pleasing tale: the princess swooning at his feet, forswearing her cruel father to be with him.
  8. debasement
    a change to a lower, less respected state
    It was a humiliation, a debasement.
  9. mitigate
    make less severe or harsh
    They were sick with longing for their hands, those appendages men use to mitigate the world.
  10. regent
    someone who rules during the absence of the monarch
    "At home, thank the gods. I would not make her sail with such a ragged bunch. She runs the house better than any regent.”
  11. hubris
    overbearing pride or presumption
    “What was the fight over?”
    “Let me see if I can remember the list.” He ticked his fingers. “Vengeance. Lust. Hubris. Greed. Power. What have I forgotten? Ah yes, vanity, and pique.”
  12. pique
    a sudden outburst of anger
    “What was the fight over?”
    “Let me see if I can remember the list.” He ticked his fingers. “Vengeance. Lust. Hubris. Greed. Power. What have I forgotten? Ah yes, vanity, and pique.”
  13. ambit
    an area in which something operates or has power or control
    My days had narrowed to the ambit of my eyes and my fingers' ends.
  14. deprecation
    the act of expressing disapproval (especially of yourself)
    It was disarming, that wry deprecation.
  15. impasse
    a situation in which no progress can be made
    “Then, Prince Odysseus, we are at an impasse. For you have the moly, and I have your men. I cannot harm you, but if you strike at me, they will never be themselves again.”
Created on Mon Nov 16 10:41:24 EST 2020 (updated Tue Jul 29 17:11:02 EDT 2025)

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