adrenaline
2 uses
... I woke up, I didn't know where I was or who I was with, I got panicky ... adrenalin was released and I got short-winded.†
Adrenalin = a trademark name for the chemical that is the "fight or flight" stimulating hormone secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress
Definition
Generally adrenaline means:"fight or flight" stimulating hormone secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress (making the body feel excited and ready for action)
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 10 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Scene 1.1 |
apparent
5 uses
in this area it is very important that Chance's attitude should be self-recognition but not self-pity — a sort of deathbed dignity and honesty apparent in it.
apparent = obvious
Definition
Generally apparent means:clear or obvious; or appearing as such but not necessarily so
Word Statistics
| Book | 5 uses |
| Library | 66 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 500 |
| 1st use | Scene 2.1 |
condescending
1 use
It sounds condescending.
condescending = a manner that treats others as inferiors
Definition
Generally condescending means:treating others as inferior; or doing something considered beneath one's position or dignity
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Scene 1.1 |
eccentric
1 use
I gave people more than I took. Middle-aged people I gave back a feeling of youth. Lonely girls? Understanding, Appreciation! An absolutely convincing show of affection. Sad people, lost people? Something light and uplifting! Eccentrics? Tolerance, even odd things they long for...
eccentrics = people who are strange or unconventional
Definition
Generally eccentric means:unconventional or strange; or a person with such traits
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 2000 |
| 1st use | Scene 1.2 |
effigy
2 uses
A hideous straw-Stuffed effigy of myself, Tom Finley, was hung and set fire to in the main quadrangle of the college.†
effigy = a model or other representation
Definition
Generally this sense of effigy means:a model or other representation — typically of a person — often of someone hated, so that it can be mocked an abused
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Scene 2.2 |
furtive
1 use
[He has removed a pink capsule from his pocket, quickly and furtively, and drunk it down with his vodka.]
furtively = while taking pains to avoid being observed
Definition
Generally furtive means:taking pains to avoid being observed
or:
in a manner indicating nervousness (being cautious or appearing suspicious)
or:
in a manner indicating nervousness (being cautious or appearing suspicious)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Scene 2.2 |
incredulous
1 use
Stella [slowly and emphatically]: I'm not in anything I want to get out of.
Blanche [incredulously]: What - Stella?
Blanche [incredulously]: What - Stella?
incredulously = not believing what she's heard
Definition
Generally incredulous means:unbelieving; or having difficulty accepting something so unexpected
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 11 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Scene 3.4 |
indicate
6 uses
[Scotty re-enters from the bathroom and indicates to Tom Junior that Chance is not there.]
indicates = expresses (in this case by gesturing)
Definition
Generally indicate means:to show (point out, demonstrate, express, or suggest)
Word Statistics
| Book | 6 uses |
| Library | 40 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 10 |
| 1st use | Scene 1.1 |
indulgent
1 use
Since earliest manhood the centre of his life has been pleasure with women, the giving and taking of it, not with weak indulgence, dependently, but with the power and pride of a richly feathered male bird among hens.
indulgence = excessive enjoyment
Definition
Generally indulgent means:to treat with extra kindness or tolerance
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Scene 3.1 |
luminous
1 use
He has the length and leanness and luminous pallor efface that El Greco gave to his saints.
luminous = glowing
Definition
Generally luminous means:glowing or shining
(also used metaphorically to describe beauty or intelligence)
(also used metaphorically to describe beauty or intelligence)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Scene 2.2 |
Napoleonic code
7 uses
There is such a thing in this State of Louisiana as the Napoleonic code, according to which...
Napoleonic code = French civil laws established with consistency under Napoleon and influential in much of the world (in the United States, influential in Louisiana)
Word Statistics
| Book | 7 uses |
| Library | 0 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Scene 3.2 |
obscure
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
the view or directions are obscure
There is some obscure meaning in this but I fail to catch it.
obscure = difficult to understand
Definition
Generally this sense of obscure means:not clearly seen, understood, or expressed
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 2000 |
| 1st use | Scene 3.9 |
pretentious
1 use
I'm pretentious.
pretentious = trying to appear more impressive than is deserved
Definition
Generally pretentious means:acting more impressive than is deserved
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Scene 1.2 |
prodigious
1 use
Stanley [prodigiously elated]:
prodigiously = far beyond what is usual in magnitude or degree
Definition
Generally prodigious means:enormous; or far beyond what is usual in magnitude or degree
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Scene 3.11 |
resignation
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
submitted her resignation
Blanche: You thought I'd been fired?
Stella: No, I - thought you might have - resigned...
Stella: No, I - thought you might have - resigned...
resigned = quit (a job)
Definition
Generally this sense of resignation means:to quit — especially a job or position; or a document expressing such an act
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 12 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 2000 |
| 1st use | Scene 3.1 |
revere
1 use
I attempt to instill a bunch of bobby-soxers and drug-store Romeos with reverence for Hawthorne and Whitman and Poe!
reverence = deep respect and admiration
Definition
Generally revere means:regard with feelings of deep respect and admiration — sometimes with a mixture of wonder and awe or fear
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 11 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Scene 3.3 |
solemn
5 uses
I don't know what's the matter, we're all so solemn.
solemn = serious (in this case, overly serious, or not cheerful)
Definition
Generally solemn means:in a very serious (and often dignified) manner
Word Statistics
| Book | 5 uses |
| Library | 20 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Scene 2.2 |
speculate
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
don't know, but I'll speculate
When the war would be over, that scared me, that speculation.
speculation = thought
(editor's note: The suffix "-tion", converts a verb into a noun that denotes the action or result of the verb. Typically, there is a slight change in the ending of the root verb, as in action, education, and observation.)
(editor's note: The suffix "-tion", converts a verb into a noun that denotes the action or result of the verb. Typically, there is a slight change in the ending of the root verb, as in action, education, and observation.)
Definition
Generally this sense of speculate means:to think about, wonder, guess or theorize with much uncertainty
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 8 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Scene 1.2 |
transitory
1 use
Physical beauty is passing. A transitory possession.
transitory = lasting a short time
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Scene 3.10 |
vivacious
2 uses
Stella for Starl [She begins to speak with feverish vivacity as if she feared for either of them to stop and think.†
vivacity = engaging liveliness
Definition
Generally vivacious means:having an engaging liveliness — when said of a person, typically said of a female
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Scene 3.1 |