Fun Home Chpts 5-7 Vocab

Maudlin

Maudlin

Adjective. Self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness; drunk enough to be emotionally silly; weakly and effusively sentimental.

Crepuscular

Adjective. Of, relating to, or resembling twilight (dawn and dusk); occurring or active at twilight.

Festoon

Noun. A decorative chain or strip hanging between two points; a carved, molded, or painted ornament resembling a chain.

Noxious

Adjective. Physically harmful or destructive to living beings; constituting a harmful influence on the body or mind.

Perfunctory

Adjective. Characterized by routine or superficiality (mechanical); lacking in enthusiasm or interest.

Bathetic

Adjective. Producing an unintentional sense of anticlimax.

Solipsistic

Adjective. Of, relating to or characterized by solipsism (the theory that the self can know nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing) or egocentrism.

Autodidact

Noun. A self taught person.

Epistemological

Adjective. Relating to the study of nature, origin, and limits of human knowledge.

Bumpkin

Noun. An awkward and unsophisticated rural person.

Dishabille

Noun. A deliberately careless or casual manner; a state of being dressed in a careless or casual style (an archaic term for negligee).

Abject

Adjective. Sunk to or existing in a very low condition/state; very bad or severe; showing hopelessness or resignation; cast down in spirit.

Mien

Noun. Air or bearing, especially as indicative of personality or attitude; demeanor; appearance.

Veritable

Adjective. Actually the thing being named and not false, unreal or imaginary (often used to emphasize the aptness of a metaphor).

Martyrology

Noun. A catalog of Roman Catholic martyrs and saints organized by the date of their feast days; an ecclesiastical history treating the lives and sufferings of martyrs.

Assiduous

Adjective. Showing great care, effort, attention, perseverance.

Omnipotence

Noun. An agency or force of unlimited power; the quality of being omnipotent (all-powerful).

Sanctimonious

Adjective. Being hypocritically pious or devout.

Lacunae

Noun. An blank space or missing part; a cavity, pit, or discontinuity in an anatomical structure.

Facetious

Adjective. Joking or jesting, often inappropriately; meant to be funny.

Beatific

Adjective. Of, possessing, or imparting beatitude (a state of absolute bliss); having a blissful appearance.

Tautology

Noun. The needless repetition of a word, statement, or idea; a statement that is true by virtue of its logical form alone.

Pall

Verb. To lose strength or effectiveness; to lose interest or attraction; dwindle.

Ministrations

Noun. The act or process of ministering (giving aid or support).

Derision

Noun. The use of ridicule or scorn to show contempt; the state of being laughed at, ridiculed, or derided; an object of ridicule or scorn.

Obtund

Verb. To reduce the edge or violence of; dull.

Beseeching

Adjective. Expressed or marked by earnest entreaty or pleading.