component
1 use
It is as though the dark were resolving him out of his integrity, into an unrelated scattering of components—snuffings and stampings; smells of cooling flesh and ammoniac hair; an illusion of a co-ordinated whole of splotched hide and strong bones within which, detached and secret and familiar, an is different from my is.
components = parts
Definition
Generally component means:a part of something
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Chapter 13 |
deliberate
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
deliberate insult
there just aint nothing justifies the deliberate destruction of what a man has built with his own sweat
deliberate = intentional
Definition
Generally this sense of deliberate means:to do something intentionally
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 11 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 53 |
detach
3 uses
When we speak our voices are quiet, detached.
detached = emotionally uninvolved (separated from ourselves)
Definition
Generally detach means:to separate something from something else (physically or emotionally)
Word Statistics
| Book | 3 uses |
| Library | 10 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 12 |
engender
3 uses
...sparks rain on it in scattering bursts as though they engendered other sparks from the contact.
engendered = gave rise to
Definition
Generally engender means:cause — usually a feeling (possibly a situation)
Word Statistics
| Book | 3 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 50 |
gaunt
5 uses
He too has lost flesh; like ours, his face has an expression strained, dreamy and gaunt.
gaunt = thin and bony
Definition
Generally gaunt means:very thin and bony — often from hunger or as though having been worn to the bone
Word Statistics
| Book | 5 uses |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 11 |
irrevocable
3 uses
her soul faced the awful and irrevocable judgment
irrevocable = final (incapable of being undone)
Definition
Generally irrevocable means:incapable of being undone
Word Statistics
| Book | 3 uses |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 12 |
latent
1 use
...there lingered somehow, latent yet still immediate, that violence which...
latent = not presently active
Definition
Generally latent means:potentially existing but not presently evident or active
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 37 |
liable
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
she is liable to
About all the sorrow and afflictions in this world; how it's liable to strike anywhere, like lightning.
liable = likely to; or maybe going to
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 16 |
monotonous
2 uses
It was as though, so long as the deceit ran along quiet and monotonous, all of us let ourselves be deceived,
monotonous = dull (lacking variety)
Definition
Generally monotonous means:lacking in variety — typically boring
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 32 |
mortal
3 uses
1 —3 uses as in:
mortal body
It is our mortal lot to suffer and...
mortal = human
Definition
Generally this sense of mortal means:human (especially merely human); or subject to death
Word Statistics
| Book | 3 uses |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 39 |
muse
4 uses
1 —4 uses as in:
her musings
...from behind his slack-faced astonishment he muses as though from beyond time, upon the ultimate outrage.
muses = thinks (reflects deeply)
Definition
Generally this sense of muse means:reflect (think) deeply on a subject — perhaps aloud
Word Statistics
| Book | 4 uses |
| Library | 9 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 17 |
oblige
6 uses
1 —6 uses as in:
I'm much obliged for your kindness
I'm obliged to you.
obliged = grateful or indebted
Word Statistics
| Book | 6 uses |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 46 |
poise
1 use
He sits lightly, poised, upright, wooden-faced in the saddle, the broken hat raked at a swaggering angle.
poised = in control and prepared to move as needed
Definition
Generally poise means:calm and in control — as in "shows poise under pressure"
and/or:
confident and graceful in movement — as in "the poise and balance of a dancer"
and/or:
balanced or prepared for action — as in "poised for action" — (sometimes suspended or hovering as in "a finger poised over the mute button" or "the sword poised over her neck.")
and/or:
confident and graceful in movement — as in "the poise and balance of a dancer"
and/or:
balanced or prepared for action — as in "poised for action" — (sometimes suspended or hovering as in "a finger poised over the mute button" or "the sword poised over her neck.")
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 10 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 27 |
profound
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
profound sadness
the profound desolation of the ocean
profound = of great intensity
Definition
Generally this sense of profound means:of greatest intensity or emotional depth
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 9 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 27 |
rapt
4 uses
watching Vernon with rapt absorption.
rapt = deeply interested and focused upon
Definition
Generally rapt means:deeply interested and focused upon — often while admiring
Word Statistics
| Book | 4 uses |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 12 |
remorse
1 use
Thou knowest the extent of my remorse and the will of my spirit.
remorse = deep regret for doing something that was wrong
Definition
Generally remorse means:a feeling of deep regret for doing something that was wrong
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 41 |
reproach
2 uses
For a while yet she looks at him, without reproach, without anything at all,
reproach = criticism
Definition
Generally reproach means:a criticism; or to express criticism
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 8 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 12 |
sacrilege
2 uses
It would be sacrilege to try to.
sacrilege = disrespectful of something others consider sacred
Definition
Generally sacrilege means:disrespect of something others consider important or sacred
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 36 |
tedious
1 use
with the tedious and minute care of a jeweler.
tedious = boring (detail work)
Definition
Generally tedious means:boring — especially because something goes on too long or without variation
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 17 |
tranquil
2 uses
The rain rushes suddenly down... Yet the motion of the saw has not faltered, as though it and the arm functioned in a tranquil conviction that rain was an illusion of the mind.
tranquil = undisturbed
Definition
Generally tranquil means:calm and undisturbed
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 8 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 17 |