alcove
8 uses
I strode blindly out into the hall, not to my room, because that was where they would come to get me, but to the alcove ... in a quiet corner of the hall, where Joan and Loubelle and DeeDee and Mrs. Savage would not come.
alcove = a recessed or secluded space
Definition
Generally alcove means:a recessed or secluded space — such as in a room or garden
Word Statistics
| Book | 8 uses |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 13 |
ambiguous
1 use
"I always feel lousy without shoes," I said with an ambiguous smile.
ambiguous = uncertain
(editor's note: This is a less common sense of ambiguous; though it is related to the more common meaning: "unclear—because there could be two or more interpretations")
(editor's note: This is a less common sense of ambiguous; though it is related to the more common meaning: "unclear—because there could be two or more interpretations")
Definition
Generally ambiguous means:unclear — because there could be two or more interpretations
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Chapter 16 |
antithesis
1 use
This poet ate his salad with his fingers, leaf by leaf, while talking to me about the antithesis of nature and art.
antithesis = exact opposite
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 3 |
approach
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
approached the city
A big white swan full of little children approached my bench, then turned around a bosky islet covered with ducks and paddled back under the dark arch of the bridge.†
approached = came near
Definition
Generally this sense of approach means:to get closer to (near in space, time, quantity, or quality)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 104 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 11 |
efface
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
efface herself
Glancing at her-myopic, spinsterish, effaced-I wondered how she knew she had graduated at all, and, unlike her clients, was whole and well.
effaced = inconspicuous or unimportant
Definition
Generally this sense of efface means:to make oneself inconspicuous or unimportant
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 0 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 20 |
innocuous
1 use
The only other address I had was the innocuous box number which people used who didn't want to advertise the fact they lived in an asylum.
innocuous = unlikely to disturb (not arousing concern)
Definition
Generally innocuous means:unlikely to harm or disturb
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 18 |
insolent
1 use
...made me an insolent bow.
insolent = rudely disrespectful
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 14 |
intuitive
5 uses
Oh, he'd managed to get good marks all right ..., but he didn't have one speck of intuition.
intuition = the ability to known instinctively rather than through reasoning
(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 intuitive means:based on feeling or instinct rather than conscious reasoning
or:
easy to understand without training or study
or:
easy to understand without training or study
Word Statistics
| Book | 5 uses |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 2000 |
| 1st use | Chapter 1 |
irony
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
situational irony
And there would be a pleasant irony in sleeping with a man Mrs. Willard had introduced me to, as if she were, in a roundabout way, to blame for it.
irony = when what happens is very different than what might be expected
Definition
Generally this sense of irony means:when what happens is very different than what might be expected; or when things are together that seem like they don't belong together — especially when amusing or an entertaining coincidence
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 16 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 7 |
lucid
1 use
a thin blue letter on leftover Yale stationery, addressed to me in Buddy Willard's lucid hand.
lucid = clearly written
(editor's note: More typically, lucid is used to indicate clear thinking, but in this case it is clear handwriting.)
(editor's note: More typically, lucid is used to indicate clear thinking, but in this case it is clear handwriting.)
Definition
Generally lucid means:of a person: capable of thinking clearly
or:
of language: clearly expressed so it is easily understood
or:
of language: clearly expressed so it is easily understood
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 10 |
mock
6 uses
watched me with a little mocking smile
mocking = ridiculing (in this case, a smile that made fun of me)
Definition
Generally mock means:making fun of
or:
not real
or:
not real
Word Statistics
| Book | 6 uses |
| Library | 31 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 100 |
| 1st use | Chapter 14 |
notorious
1 use
So one Saturday Eric and a few of his classmates took a bus into the nearest city and visited a notorious whorehouse.
notorious = well known for something bad
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 9 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 7 |
perspective
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
a perspective of the entire block
Only for me, the long perspective of shades that set off one box from the next had suddenly snapped up, and I could see day after day after day glaring ahead of me like a white, broad, infinitely desolate avenue.
perspective = view
Definition
Generally this sense of perspective means:a view — often stressing that the view is different from a view from another location
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 11 |
placid
1 use
I woke warm and placid in my white cocoon.
placid = calm
Definition
Generally placid means:calm and not easily excited
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 17 |
pretense
1 use
It occurred to me that Joan, hearing where I was, had engaged a room at the asylum on pretense, simply as a joke.
pretense = false grounds (pretending she needed it when she didn't)
Definition
Generally pretense means:a false appearance or action to help one pretend
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 16 |
resolute
2 uses
"Never," I said, and hung up with a resolute click.
resolute = firm in purpose or belief
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 19 |
salve
1 use
Miss Huey began to talk in a low, soothing voice, smoothing the salve on my temples and fitting the small electric buttons on either side of my head.
salve = cream or liquid that is put onto skin (in this case to help electricity flow)
Definition
Generally salve means:a cream or liquid put onto skin to make it feel better or heal
or:
anything that eases pain or anxiety; or the act of doing such
or:
anything that eases pain or anxiety; or the act of doing such
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 17 |
tedious
1 use
I made a little bitter grin as another soak of blood let itself through the drenched padding and started the tedious journey into my shoes.
tedious = long and slow
(editor's note: This is an unusual, though related, sense of tedious. Usually it is used to mean: "dull or boring—especially due to the amount of something that must be endured")
(editor's note: This is an unusual, though related, sense of tedious. Usually it is used to mean: "dull or boring—especially due to the amount of something that must be endured")
Definition
Generally tedious means:boring — especially because something goes on too long or without variation
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 19 |
treachery
1 use
It wasn't the shock treatment that struck me, so much as the bare-faced treachery of Doctor Nolan.
treachery = betrayal
Definition
Generally treachery means:the behavior of someone who pretends to be a friend and then tricks, cheats, or betrays
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 17 |
verdant
1 use
The carpet stretched from one end of the hall to the other, clean and eternally verdant except for a faint, irregular dark stain before my door as if somebody had by accident spilled a glass of water there, but dabbed it dry again.
verdant = green
Definition
Generally verdant means:green with a lot of healthy plant life
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2 |