Eragon: List 1

by Christopher Paolini
In the first book of The Inheritance Cycle, a fifteen-year-old boy finds a dragon egg in the woods and becomes a Dragon Rider.

This list covers "Prologue: Shade of Fear"–"Awakening."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5, List 6
40 words 418 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. fetid
    offensively malodorous
    He suppressed his distaste—they smelled like fetid meat—and turned away.
  2. canter
    go at a smooth three-beat gait, of horses
    Three white horses with riders cantered toward the ambush, their heads held high and proud, their coats rippling in the moonlight like liquid silver.
  3. ruddy
    of the color between orange and purple in the color spectrum
    A silvery cloud drifted over the mountains that surrounded him, its edges glowing with ruddy light cast from the harvest moon cradled between two peaks.
  4. stolid
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
    Streams flowed down the mountains from stolid glaciers and glistening snowpacks.
  5. precipitous
    extremely steep
    In late evening he arrived at the edge of a precipitous ravine.
  6. outcropping
    part of a rock formation that juts above surrounding land
    The trail led him onto a moist slate outcropping, which the river sped past, flinging itself into empty air and down mossy cliffs.
  7. scrupulously
    with careful attention and effort to do something correctly
    Everything was scrupulously clean, as if the owner spent his leisure time digging in obscure crannies for minuscule pieces of filth.
  8. dote
    shower with love; show excessive affection for
    A widower, Sloan seemed to care for only one person—his daughter, Katrina, on whom he doted.
  9. reproachful
    expressing disapproval, blame, or disappointment
    Horst tugged at his beard before saying reproachfully, “Fine, you can deal with me. What were you going to get, Eragon?”
  10. proffer
    present for acceptance or rejection
    He proffered the stone.
  11. knoll
    a small natural mound
    A simple path led straight through waist-high grass and up a knoll, almost hidden by the shadows of protective elm trees.
  12. elicit
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    This elicited a satisfactory amount of awe, but Roran soon asked nervously, “Were you able to talk with Katrina?”
  13. taciturn
    habitually reserved and uncommunicative
    They returned to their meals in the taciturn presence of Garrow.
  14. countenance
    the appearance conveyed by a person's face
    His countenance was resigned.
  15. garish
    tastelessly showy
    The troubadours’ four tents were garishly decorated.
  16. poniard
    a dagger with a slender blade
    The gaunt men carried swords and daggers with a new familiarity, and even the women had poniards belted at their waists.
  17. sable
    of a dark somewhat brownish black
    It was crimson at the top and sable at the bottom, with thin triangles of colors stabbing into each other.
  18. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    A gnarled dagger with a ruby in the pommel rested on a white cushion.
  19. petulantly
    in an easily irritated or annoyed manner
    There was no hint of hair on his face, his pudgy hands were baby smooth, and he had pouting lips that curled petulantly as he sipped from a flagon.
  20. florid
    inclined to a healthy reddish color
    The second man had a florid face.
  21. corpulent
    excessively large
    The skin around his jaw was dry and corpulent, filled with lumps of hard fat, like cold butter gone rancid.
  22. perpetuate
    cause to continue or prevail
    We already explained that the Varden have no interest in helping you. That’s only a falsehood perpetuated by the traitors in an attempt to disrupt the Empire and convince us that the real threat is inside—not outside—our borders.
  23. copious
    large in number or quantity
    Sweet cordials and heavy ales were consumed in copious amounts, adding to the boisterous atmosphere.
  24. troubadour
    a singer of folk songs
    The troubadours came tumbling out of their tents, dressed in tasseled clothing, followed by older and more stately minstrels.
  25. minstrel
    a singer of folk songs
    The minstrels provided music and narration as their younger counterparts acted out the stories.
  26. bawdy
    humorously vulgar
    The first plays were pure entertainment: bawdy and full of jokes, pratfalls, and ridiculous characters.
  27. pratfall
    a tumble backward, especially for comic effect
    The first plays were pure entertainment: bawdy and full of jokes, pratfalls, and ridiculous characters.
  28. tutelage
    attention and management implying responsibility for safety
    For good only were their powers used, and under their tutelage tall cities and towers were built out of the living stone.
  29. requiem
    a song or hymn of mourning as a memorial to a dead person
    The next words came like the mournful toll of a requiem.
  30. bereft
    lacking or deprived of something
    Alone, bereft of much of his strength and half mad with loss, Galbatorix wandered without hope in that desolate land, seeking death.
  31. arduous
    characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion
    Driven by this thought, he began the arduous journey, on foot, back through the Spine. Territory he had soared over effortlessly on a dragon’s back now took him months to traverse.
  32. insidious
    working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
    He found a sympathetic Rider, and there his insidious words took root. By persistent reasoning and the use of dark secrets learned from a Shade, he inflamed the Rider against their elders.
  33. treacherously
    in a disloyal and faithless manner
    Together they treacherously lured and killed an elder.
  34. tentatively
    in a hesitant manner
    Tentatively, he reached out with his right hand and touched its flank.
  35. reedy
    thin and high-pitched in tone
    The dragon wailed in a reedy tone as it looked for food.
  36. sentinel
    a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
    When dawn came, the dragon was sitting atop his bedpost, like an ancient sentinel welcoming the new day.
  37. deft
    skillful in physical movements; especially of the hands
    With a few deft movements, he made a noose and slipped it over the dragon’s head as it explored the snowy clumps surrounding the tree.
  38. pilfer
    make off with belongings of others
    Before long he headed back to the rowan, carrying sausages he had pilfered from the cellar.
  39. apprehension
    fearful expectation or anticipation
    With apprehension, he approached the tree.
  40. preempt
    keep from happening or arising
    Eragon could imagine no worse way for the truth to come out, so he decided to preempt it by explaining everything to them.
Created on Mon Apr 26 09:14:55 EDT 2021 (updated Mon May 03 12:26:18 EDT 2021)

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