aggrieve
1 use
Carrie was ashamed, and Drouet aggrieved.†
aggrieved = felt harmed by unfair treatment
Definition
Generally aggrieve means:feeling harmed by unfair treatment; or (more rarely) harming someone unfairly
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 23 |
alacrity
1 use
In the night he was long getting to sleep because of too much thinking, and in the morning he was early awake, seizing with alacrity upon the same dear subject and pursuing it with vigor.†
alacrity = quickness; and/or cheerful eagerness
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 20 |
antagonism
2 uses
She did not explain that the though, however, had aroused all the antagonism of her nature.†
antagonism = hostility or opposition
Definition
Generally antagonism means:hostility, opposition, or tension between opposing forces or ideas
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 7 |
arbiter
1 use
Her mind delighted itself with scenes of luxury and refinement, situations in which she was the cynosure of all eyes, the arbiter of all fates.†
arbiter = someone who settles disputes
Definition
Generally arbiter means:someone who settles disputes — often because of reputation
or:
someone chosen to judge and decide a disputed issue
or:
someone chosen to judge and decide a disputed issue
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 16 |
askance
1 use
Carrie looked at him askance, half-suspicious of an appeal.†
askance = with disapproval or distrust; or directed to one side
Definition
Generally askance means:with disapproval, distrust, or suspicion
or:
directed to one side — especially a sideways glance
or:
directed to one side — especially a sideways glance
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 38 |
cessation
2 uses
In the night, or the gloomy chambers of the day, fears and misgivings wax strong, but out in the sunlight there is, for a time, cessation even of the terror of death.†
cessation = a stopping
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 4 |
circuitous
1 use
It crossed Broadway from out the shadow of Twenty-sixth Street, and, in a halting, circuitous way, arrived close to the waiting figure.†
circuitous = indirect
Definition
Generally circuitous means:indirect — while traveling somewhere, or in saying or doing something
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 45 |
circumscribe
2 uses
She was now a thin, though rugged, women of twenty-seven, with ideas of life colored by her husband's and fast hardening into narrower conceptions of pleasure and duty than had ever been hers in a thoroughly circumscribed youth.†
circumscribed = to restrict something within set limits; or draw a circle around or surround
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2 |
commensurate
1 use
She would wait and brood, studying the details and adding to them until her power might be commensurate with her desire for revenge.†
commensurate = proportionate
Definition
Generally commensurate means:appropriate in proportion to
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 12 |
conducive
1 use
This majesty of passion is possessed by nearly every man once in his life, but it is usually an attribute of youth and conduces to the first successful mating.†
conduces = contributes (to a result)
Definition
Generally conducive means:contribute (help lead to a result)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Chapter 23 |
construe
1 use
In so far as her mind could construe, she acknowledged benefits received.†
construe = understand something to have a specific meaning
Definition
Generally construe means:to interpret (understand) something as have a specific meaning
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 23 |
corpulent
2 uses
All his corpulence had fled.†
corpulence = having excessive body fat
Definition
Generally corpulent means:with excessive body fat
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 45 |
diffident
8 uses
She followed him diffidently through the clattering automatons, keeping her eyes straight before her, and flushing slightly.†
diffidently = with hesitancy and unassertiveness
Definition
Generally diffident means:hesitant and unassertive — often due to a lack of self-confidence
Word Statistics
| Book | 8 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 4 |
duplicity
1 use
Mercy, how he turned at the man's shameless duplicity.†
duplicity = deception — such as lying
Definition
Generally duplicity means:deception (lying to or misleading others) — usually over an extended period
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 23 |
egotistical
2 uses
Drouet had ability in this fine himself when the game was worth the candle, but he was too much the egotist to reach the polish which Hurstwood possessed.†
egotist = someone who is conceited and self-centered
Definition
Generally egotistical means:conceited and self-centered
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 10 |
pathos
7 uses
That is, his feelings and his voice were colored with that seeming repression and pathos which is the essence of eloquence.†
pathos = a quality that arouses pity or sorrow
Word Statistics
| Book | 7 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 13 |
patronage
3 uses
There was not the slightest touch of patronage.†
patronage = support or favor given
Definition
Generally patronage means:support or favor given
The exact sense of patronage depends upon its context. For example::
- "wants to increase federal patronage of the arts" — donations made to support an organization or person
- "a political patronage appointee" — favors given such as political appointments or contracts given in return for political support
- "rewards repeat patronage" — business from customers — especially recurring business
Word Statistics
| Book | 3 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 12 |
perfidy
5 uses
Never mind now about Hurstwood's perfidy—why had he done this?†
perfidy = an act of deliberate betrayal; or such behavior
Word Statistics
| Book | 5 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 23 |
repudiate
1 use
The rendition ran on in this wise until it came to where Carrie, as Laura, comes into the room to explain to Ray, who, after hearing Pearl's statement about her birth, had written the letter repudiating her, which, however, he did not deliver.†
repudiating = rejecting strongly
Definition
Generally repudiate means:strong rejection — especially when the idea or thing being rejected was once embraced
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Chapter 17 |
supercilious
5 uses
Life had not taught her domination—superciliousness of grace, which is the lordly power of some women.†
superciliousness = arrogant (acting as if better, more important, and superior in ideas than others)
(Editor's note: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.)
(Editor's note: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.)
Word Statistics
| Book | 5 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 15 |