Fun Home chapters 5+6 vocab

Maudlin

tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental:*a maudlin story of a little orphan and her lost dog.*

foolishly or mawkishly sentimental because of drunkenness.

Crepuscular

*adjective*

of, relating to, or resembling twilight; dim; indistinct.

Festoons

*noun*

a string or chain of flowers, foliage, ribbon, etc., suspended in a curve between two points.

*verb (used with object)*

to adorn with or as with festoons:*to festoon a hall.*

Noxious

*adjective*

harmful or injurious to health or physical well-being:*noxious fumes.*

morally harmful; corrupting; pernicious:*a noxious plan to spread dissension.*

Perfunctory

*adjective*

performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial:*perfunctory courtesy.*

lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm; indifferent or apathetic:*In his lectures he reveals himself to be merely a perfunctory speaker.*

Bathetic

*adjective*

displaying or characterized by bathos:*the bathetic emotionalism of soap operas.*

Solipsistic

*adjective*

of or characterized by solipsism, or the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist:*Her treatment philosophy dealt with madness as a complete, self-contained, solipsistic world that sane people are not able to enter.*

Autodidact

*noun*

a person who has learned a subject without the benefit of a teacher or formal education; a self-taught person.

Epistemological

*adjective*

pertaining to epistemology, a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge.

Bumpkin

*noun* *Informal*.

an awkward, simple, unsophisticated person from a rural area; yokel.

Dishabille

*noun*

the state of being dressed in a careless, disheveled, or disorderly style or manner; undress.

a garment worn in undress.

a loose morning dress.

a disorderly or disorganized state of mind or way of thinking.

Abject

*adjective*

utterly hopeless, miserable, humiliating, or wretched:*abject poverty.*

contemptible; despicable; base-spirited:*an abject coward.*

Mien

*noun*

air, bearing, or demeanor, as showing character, feeling, etc.:*a man of noble mien.*

Veritable

*adjective*

being truly or very much so:*a veritable triumph.*

*Obsolete*. true, as a statement or tale.

Martyrology

*noun,* *plural* **mar·tyr·ol·o·gies.**

the branch of knowledge dealing with the lives of martyrs.

a history of martyrs.

Assiduous

*adjective*

constant in application or effort; working diligently at a task; persevering; industrious; meticulous:*an assiduous student.*

Omnipotence

The state of almighty or infinite in power, as God.

having very great or unlimited authority or power.

Sanctimonious

*adjective*

making a hypocritical show of religious devotion, piety, righteousness, etc.:*They resented his sanctimonious comments on immorality in America.*

Lacunae

*noun*

a gap or missing part, as in a manuscript, series, or logical argument; hiatus.

Facetious

*adjective*

not meant to be taken seriously or literally:*a facetious remark.*

amusing; humorous.

lacking serious intent; concerned with something nonessential, amusing, or frivolous:*a facetious person.*