abridge
6 uses
All abridging remarks and other comments will be in this fancy italic type so you'll know.†
abridging = shortening; or reducing in scope while retaining essential elements
Definition
Generally abridge means:reduce in scope while retaining essential elements — especially to a book
Word Statistics
| Book | 6 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 8, p.357.1 |
agony
5 uses
It was agony keeping her arms outstretched and her fingers spread when it was all so useless.†
agony = intense suffering
Definition
Generally agony means:intense feelings of suffering — can be from mental or physical pain
Word Statistics
| Book | 5 uses |
| Library | 15 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 5, p.204.1 |
anguish
7 uses
The whys behind the screams interested him fully as much as the anguish itself.†
anguish = extreme pain, suffering, or distress
Definition
Generally anguish means:extreme pain, suffering, or distress (of body or mind)
Word Statistics
| Book | 7 uses |
| Library | 12 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 6, p.223.9 |
candid
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
your candid opinion
...knave, so shrewd, cagey as well as calculating, as diabolical as I am vulpine, as tricky as I am untrustworthy .... well, I told you there were not words invented yet to explain how great my brain is, but let me put it this way: the world is several million years old and several billion people have at one time or another trod upon it, but I, Vizzini the Sicilian, am, speaking with pure candor and modesty, the slickest, sleekest, sliest and wiliest fellow who has yet come down the pike.†
candor = honesty and directness
From page 175.4 Typical Usage
Definition
Generally this sense of candid means:honest and direct
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 500 |
| 1st use | Chapter 5, p.175.4 |
congregate
1 use
At night, more often than not, they would congregate in the dark beyond her window and laugh about her.†
congregate = come together as a group
From page 44.6 Typical Usage
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 1, p.44.6 |
crescendo
1 use
And the night behind them was filled with the crescendoing sound of pursuit....†
crescendoing = gradually increasing in intensity; or reaching maximum intensity
From page 357.6 Typical Usage
Definition
Generally crescendo means:a gradual increase in intensity; or the time of maximum intensity — especially in the loudness of music
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 8, p.357.6 |
crucial
4 uses
Because when she died of murder on their wedding night, it was crucial that all Florin realize the depth of his love, the epochal size of his loss, since then no one would dare hesitate to follow him in the revenge war he was to launch against Guilder.†
crucial = very important
Definition
Generally crucial means:very important or necessary — often because it determines how something else will turn out
Word Statistics
| Book | 4 uses |
| Library | 10 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Chapter 6, p.244.4 |
factor
2 uses
1 —2 uses as in:
It was the deciding factor.
As an architect, he had been crucial in the safety factors involved in the Zoo of Death, and it had undeniably been Rugen who had arranged for the only survivable entrance being the underground fifth-level one.†
factors = things that affect a result or outcome
Definition
Generally this sense of factor means:something that affects a result or outcome
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 13 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 100 |
| 1st use | Chapter 6, p.254.4 |
guile
2 uses
Because the Sicilian had a dream: with his guile plus the Turk's strength plus the Spaniard's sword, they might become the most effective criminal organization in the civilized world.†
guile = cunning (shrewdness and cleverness) and deceitful
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 5, p.141.9 |
omit
1 use
Just as the chapters on whaling in Moby-Dick can be omitted by all but the most punishment-loving readers, so the packing scenes that Morgenstern details here are really best left alone.†
omitted = to exclude or neglect something
From page 83.9 Typical Usage
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 100 |
| 1st use | Chapter 3, p.83.9 |
optimistic
2 uses
Still, he was an eternal optimist, so he kept the great cage of the fifth level always in readiness.†
optimist = someone who expects the best; or who focuses on the good part of things
Definition
Generally optimistic means:expecting the best; or focusing on the good part of things
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 15 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 500 |
| 1st use | Chapter 6, p.244.7 |
ponder
4 uses
Adela, flattered, began to ponder on the truth of the statement.†
ponder = think deeply or carefully about
Definition
Generally ponder means:to think deeply or carefully about something
Word Statistics
| Book | 4 uses |
| Library | 15 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 6, p.261.5 |
precede
1 use
This was the one aspect of her life that had not changed in the years preceding.†
preceding = prior (in time or space)
From page 100.3 Typical Usage
Definition
Generally precede means:to go or do before
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 9 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 100 |
| 1st use | Chapter 5, p.100.3 |
primarily
1 use
Buttercup at this time was nowhere near that high, being barely in the top twenty, and that primarily on potential, certainly not on any particular care she took of herself.†
primarily = mainly
From page 42.2 Typical Usage
Definition
Generally primarily means:mainly (most importantly)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 100 |
| 1st use | Chapter 1, p.42.2 |
ravine
22 uses
They were running along the edge of a towering ravine.†
ravine = a deep narrow steep-sided valley — especially one formed by running water
Word Statistics
| Book | 22 uses |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 5, p.183.3 |
rebuttal
1 use
Fezzik had no further rebuttal.
rebuttal = argument in opposition
From page 328.4 Typical Usage
Definition
Generally rebuttal means:a statement arguing against something
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 7, p.328.4 |
scorn
1 use
"I know this must come as something of a surprise, since all I've ever done is scorn you and degrade you and taunt you, but I have loved you for several hours now, and every second, more.†
scorn = disrespect or reject as not good enough
From page 58.2 Typical Usage
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 10 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 500 |
| 1st use | Chapter 1, p.58.2 |
sheer
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
a sheer blouse
But still, There was no doubt that he was, in spite of the sheerness of the Cliffs, heading in an upward direction.†
sheerness = typically of fabric: very thin and delicate — often transparent
(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.)
From page 117.6 Typical Usage
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Chapter 5, p.117.6 |
vary
2 uses
They were made in varying sizes, and the Prince's looked to be one of the largest, being wrist thick where it joined the handle.†
varying = differing; or changing
Definition
Generally vary means:to be different, or to change
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 13 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 100 |
| 1st use | Chapter 8, p.344.4 |
wily
1 use
...knave, so shrewd, cagey as well as calculating, as diabolical as I am vulpine, as tricky as I am untrustworthy .... well, I told you there were not words invented yet to explain how great my brain is, but let me put it this way: the world is several million years old and several billion people have at one time or another trod upon it, but I, Vizzini the Sicilian, am, speaking with pure candor and modesty, the slickest, sleekest, sliest and wiliest fellow who has yet come down the pike.†
wiliest = the most clever
From page 175.4 Typical Usage
Definition
Generally wily means:clever and good at tricking others to achieve a goal
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 5, p.175.4 |