The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Vocabulary

2 uses

Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart.

alacrity = quickness; and/or cheerful eagerness

1 use

Tom bent down close to it and said, "Lady-bug, lady-bug, fly away home, your house is on fire, your children's alone," and she took wing and went off to see about it —which did not surprise the boy, for he knew of old that this insect was credulous ... and he had practised upon its simplicity more than once.

credulous = gullible (being too willing to believe)

2 uses

Tom withered him with derision!

derision = by treating him as though he were inferior and unworthy of respect

4 uses

Diligence and attention soon gave him the knack of it,

diligence = hard work and care

1 use

1 use

His heart was heavy, and he said with a disdain which he did not feel that it wasn't anything to spit like Tom Sawyer;

disdain = a lack of respect

6 uses

The mayor of the village, in delivering the prize to the author of it, made a warm speech in which he said that it was by far the most "eloquent" thing he had ever listened to,

eloquent = powerful use of language

1 use

He believed he had taxed the forbearance of the powers above to the extremity

forbearance = tolerance

(editor's note: Tom is afraid that he has sinned more than God can forgive)

1 use

he had to talk so properly that speech ... become insipid in his mouth;

insipid = feeble or lacked flavor

4 uses

But although Tom's ear tingled, his heart was jubilant.

jubilant = full of high-spirited delight

1 use

When Becky told her father, in strict confidence, how Tom had taken her whipping at school, the Judge was visibly moved; and when she pleaded grace for the mighty lie which Tom had told in order to shift that whipping from her shoulders to his own, the Judge said with a fine outburst that it was a noble, a generous, a magnanimous lie—a lie that was worthy to hold up its head and march down through history breast to breast with George Washington's lauded Truth about the hatchet!

magnanimous = kind and generous in spirit

2 uses

Here was a gorgeous triumph; they were missed; they were mourned... the departed were the talk of the whole town, and the envy of all the boys, as far as this dazzling notoriety was concerned.

notoriety = state of being known for something bad

1 use

A prevalent feature in these compositions was ... a wasteful and opulent gush of "fine language";

opulent = magnificent

3 uses

yielded up the pewter medal which he had worn with ostentation for months.

ostentation = an action intended to attract notice and impress others

2 uses

As the service proceeded, the clergyman drew such pictures of the graces, the winning ways, and the rare promise of the lost lads that every soul there, thinking he recognized these pictures, felt a pang in remembering that he had persistently blinded himself to them always before, and had as persistently seen only faults and flaws in the poor boys.

persistently = always (in a continuing manner)

3 uses

and this seemed to render the pervading silence and sense of loneliness the more profound.

pervading = filling

1 use

1 use

She was half sorry her sagacity had miscarried, and half glad that Tom had stumbled into obedient conduct for once.

sagacity = wisdom

6 uses

Three dreadful days and nights dragged their tedious hours along,

tedious = boring

5 uses

Huck's face lost its tranquil content, and took a melancholy cast.

tranquil = calm and undisturbed