Unit 5: Selection Vocabulary 1

This list covers "The Great Figure," "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," "The Idler," and "A Cup of Tea."
20 words 59 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. urgency
    pressing importance requiring speedy action
    firetruck
    moving
    with weight and urgency
    tense
    unheeded
    to gong clangs
    siren howls
    and wheels rumbling
    through the dark city.
  2. tense
    in or of a state of physical or nervous strain
    firetruck
    moving
    with weight and urgency
    tense
    unheeded
    to gong clangs
    siren howls
    and wheels rumbling
    through the dark city.
  3. unheeded
    disregarded
    firetruck
    moving
    with weight and urgency
    tense
    unheeded
    to gong clangs
    siren howls
    and wheels rumbling
    through the dark city.
  4. gong
    a large metal disk that sounds a note when struck
    firetruck
    moving
    with weight and urgency
    tense
    unheeded
    to gong clangs
    siren howls
    and wheels rumbling
    through the dark city.
  5. etherize
    anesthetize with ether
    Let us go then, you and I,
    When the evening is spread out against the sky
    Like a patient etherized upon a table
  6. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    Streets that follow like a tedious argument
    Of insidious intent
    To lead you to an overwhelming question
  7. insidious
    working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
    Streets that follow like a tedious argument
    Of insidious intent
    To lead you to an overwhelming question
  8. malinger
    avoid responsibilities and duties, often by faking illness
    And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!
    Smoothed by long fingers,
    Asleep...tired...or it malingers.
  9. deferential
    showing courteous regard for people's feelings
    Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
    Deferential, glad to be of use
  10. reduce
    bring to humbler or weaker state or condition
    A little longer, ere the tiresome load
    Shall be reduced to ashes or to clay.
  11. throng
    a large gathering of people
    No matter, if amid the busy throng,
    He greets some face, infantile at the last.
  12. infantile
    being or befitting or characteristic of a baby
    No matter, if amid the busy throng,
    He greets some face, infantile at the last.
  13. content
    satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are
    So dreams he on, his happy life to pass
    Content, without ambition's painful sighs,
    Until the sands run down into the glass;
    He smiles—content—unmoved and dies.
  14. infinitude
    the quality of being infinite; without bound or limit
    Are you the better for your desperate deal,
    When you, like him, into infinitude are hurled?
  15. quaint
    strange in an interesting or pleasing way
    She was young, brilliant, extremely modern, exquisitely well dressed, amazingly well read in the newest of the new books, and her parties were the most delicious mixture of the really important people and…artists—quaint creatures, discoveries of hers, some of them too terrifying for words, but others quite presentable and amusing.
  16. flattery
    excessive or insincere praise
    He beamed whenever she came in. He clasped his hands; he was so gratified he could scarcely speak. Flattery, of course.
  17. discreet
    marked by prudence or modesty and wise self-restraint
    The discreet door shut with a click.
  18. languor
    inactivity; showing an unusual lack of energy
    When the tea-table was carried away a new being, a light, frail creature with tangled hair, dark lips, deep, lighted eyes, lay back in the big chair in a kind of sweet languor, looking at the blaze.
  19. listless
    lacking zest or vivacity
    “It’s a beastly afternoon,” he said curiously, still looking at that listless figure, looking at its hands and boots, and then at Rosemary again.
  20. crude
    conspicuously and tastelessly indecent
    She's absolutely lovely. Look again, my child. I was bowled over when I came into your room just now. However…I think you’re making a ghastly mistake. Sorry, darling, if I’m crude and all that.
Created on Tue Dec 15 11:38:45 EST 2020 (updated Wed Dec 16 15:01:08 EST 2020)

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