Vocabulary for The Great Gatsby: Key Terms and Definitions

abortive

failing to reach completion

supercilious

full of contempt and arrogance

desolate

solitary, joyless, and without hope; bare, uninhabited, and deserted

complacent

self-satisfied and unaware of possible dangers

languid

sluggish or slow-moving; listless and indifferent

prodigal

spendthrift or extravagant to a degree bordering on recklessness

credulity

the tendency to believe something too readily

convivial

enjoyable because of its friendliness; enjoying company of others

affectation

behavior intended to impress; feigned or unnatural behavior that is often meant to impress others

labyrinth

something made up of many different parts that is complicated and hard to understand; maze

abstracted

in deep thought and not concentrating on surroundings

garrulous

excessively or pointlessly talkative

turgid

(a.) swollen and distended or congested; (b.) (of language or style) tediously pompous or bombastic: boring, and overcomplicated

contingency

something that occurs or exists only as a result of something else or that depends on something else

profusion

a large quantity of something

profuse

(especially of something offered or discharged) exuberantly plentiful; abundant

oblivion

a state of being utterly forgotten

presumptuous

inconsiderate, disrespectful, or overconfident

pervade

to spread through or be present throughout something

amorphous

without any clear shape, form, or structure

superfluous

that is in excess of what is needed; not essential

jaunty

happy, carefree, and confident; perky and casually fashionable

dilatory

(a.) slow to act; (b.) intended to cause delay

transitory

not permanent or lasting, but existing only for a short time

fractious

irritable; likely to complain or misbehave

hauteur

arrogance; self-importance; overconfidence

inviolate

unaltered; not subject to change, damage, or destruction

vehement

with conviction; expressing or showing conviction or intense feeling

obtuse

(a.) annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand; (b.) difficult to understand; (c.) [of an angle] more than 90° and less than 180°; (d.) not sharp-pointed or sharp-edged; blunt

acute

(a.) having or showing a perceptive understanding or insight; shrewd; (b.) [in medicine] describing a disease as acute denotes that it is of short duration and, as a corollary of that, of recent onset; (c.) [of a bad, difficult, or unwelcome situation or phenomenon] present or experienced to a severe or intense degree; (d.) [of an angle] less than 90°; (e.) [of a sound] high; shrill