The Great Gatsby Vocab

extemporizing

extemporizing

improvising; to do or perform without prior preparation

fractiousness

quarrelsomeness; irritable

languidly

sluggishly, lifeless; lacking energy or vitality

peremptorily

urgently, commandingly; insisting on immediate attention

supercilious

coolly superior, arrogant, pompous

contiguous

next to, adjacent; sharing an edge or a boundary

indeterminate

vague, indefinable; not exactly known or established

strident

harsh and insistent; grating or shrill

transcendent

superior, rising above, preternatural, surpassing the ordinary

convival

festive, sociable, cheerful, friendly, jovial

corpulent

stout, portly, fat

erroneous

mistaking, wrong, incorrect

insolent

overbearing, rude, sassy, lacks respect, cheeky

prodigality

lavishness, wasteful extravagance

provincial

unsophisticated, a person lacking urban polish or refinement

denizen

a frequent visitor; a regular

disconcerting

embarrassing, jarring, troubling, makes you unsettled

punctilious

careful, exacting, meticulous, scrupulous, painstaking

gaudily

flashily, extravigantly bright or showy, tasteless

nebulous

indistinct, hazy

scanty

less than sufficient, meager, skimpy, scarce

vestige

a trace, evidence or a sign of something

dilatory

tardy, slow to act

ineffable

indescribable, incapable of being expressed

ingratiate

to gain favor by flattery, preceding in a gradual, subtle way, stealthy

insidious

treacherous

laudable

commendable, praiseworthy

oblivious

unconcerned, forgetful, unaware

irreverent

lacking proper respect or seriousness, disdainful, disrespectful

morbid

gloomy, gruesome

precipitately

suddenly, rushed, hurried, impulsive, hasty

prig

an obnoxious proper person, prude

amorphous

shapeless, formless

commensurate

proportionate, comparable in size

fortuitously

happening by chance, lucky, advantageous, opportune

proteges

persons trained, influenced, and helped along by others, apprentice, follower, pupil

redolent

aromatic, strongly reminiscent or suggestive

unscrupulously

in an unprincipled manner, not honest or fair, unprincipled

reverent

awed and respectful

superfluous

excessive; unnecessary, beyond what’s required or sufficient