Atlas Shrugged
Vocabulary

3 uses

...he felt was the sheer pleasure of the sight, the purest esthetic pleasure he had ever experienced.

esthetic = sensation of beauty

2 uses

and the empty white face staring at the universe in stagnant apathy would be the limit placed on her effort.

apathy = lack of interest and enthusiasm

25 uses

His face was hard; it had an expression of severity, an inner severity directed at himself; it looked austere and lonely.

austere = without comfort or luxury

12 uses

...in the belligerently righteous style of a third-rate tabloid; her economics consisted of the assertion that "we've got to help the poor."

belligerently = with a manner of one eager to fight

7 uses

Entering Rearden's office, Dr. Floyd Ferris wore the expression of a man so certain of the success of his quest that he could afford a benevolent smile.

benevolent = kind and generous

2 uses

But you expect industrial giants-who plan in terms of decades ... to continue to function and produce, not knowing what random caprice in the skull of what random official will descend upon them at what moment to demolish the whole of their effort.

caprice = impulsive and unpredictable idea

11 uses

She was startled to see him looking at her with a touch of derision, as if he were mocking her estimate...

derision = contempt and ridicule (lack of respect and making fun of)

59 uses

It was a cry of despair.

despair = hopelessness or desperation

6 uses

-that we must act on the expediency of the moment-you don't want to risk your job, do you?

expediency = an action that is speedy or practical

3 uses

She stood there, fastidiously groomed, wearing a...

fastidiously = giving careful attention to detail

5 uses

111 uses

...he was not indifferent to his mills; but the feeling which had once been passion for a living entity was now like the wistful tenderness one feels for the memory of the loved and dead.

indifferent = without interest

2 uses

...with vacant eyes staring in indolent stupor out of stagnant layers of flesh,

indolent = lazy

1 use

70 uses

Boyle did not catch the tone of mockery, and answered earnestly,

mockery = ridicule

11 uses

But tonight she wore an ostentatious display:

ostentatious = intended to attract notice and impress others

4 uses

They neither refuted nor agreed; they merely looked as if her arguments were beside the point.

refuted = argued against

1 use

They're all scrambling to get statements into the newspapers to the effect that they have no connection whatever with the John Galt Line and how reprehensible an undertaking they think it is.

reprehensible = bad and unacceptable

7 uses

Eddie's eyes were blue, wide and questioning; he had blond hair and a square face, unremarkable except for that look of scrupulous attentiveness and...

scrupulous = diligent and ethical

1 use

Had she fed him tainted refuse, he thought, had she mixed poison into his food, it would have been more kind and less fatal.

tainted = spoiled or contaminated