The Crucible Vocabulary

Crucible

A severe trial or test that pushes a person to their limits, or a heat-resistant container used to melt or store substances.

Allegory

A story, poem, or piece of art where characters and events stand in for deeper moral, political, or hidden meanings.

Predilection

A natural preference, special liking, or bias toward a particular thing.

Ingratiating

Behavior or a manner intended to gain someone's favor, approval, or affection through excessive flattery or charm.

Autocracy

A system of government where one person is in charge and holds unlimited and absolute power.

Insoluble

Having or admitting of no solution or explanation.

Dissembling

To put on a false appearance; concealing facts, intentions, or feelings under some pretense.

Abyss

An immeasurably deep gulf or great space.

Intimations

A hint, an indirect suggestion, or a formal notice.

Calumny

To slander someone or make false and defamatory statements.

Contiguous

Sharing a common border, touching, or being next to something in space or time.

Iniquity

Gross injustice, wickedness, or a wicked, unrighteous act.

Prodigious

Extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, or force.

Diametrically

Used to emphasize that two ideas, views, or things are the exact opposite of each other.

Inculcation

The process of teaching or impressing ideas, values, or habits into someone's mind through persistent repetition.

Succubi

Female demons or supernatural entities from European folklore that appear in dreams to seduce men.

Abrogation

Official or formal act of canceling, repealing, or nullifying a law, custom, or right.

Congeries

A disorderly collection, a jumble, or a heap of different things gathered into one mass.

Propitiation

The act of turning away wrath or gaining the favor of someone, especially a deity, by offering a sacrifice or gift.

Lascivious

Feeling, expressing, or arousing strong and often inappropriate sexual desire.

Licentious

Someone who lacks moral discipline or ignores social rules, especially regarding sexual conduct.

Probity

Complete and proven honesty, strict moral integrity, and upright behavior.

Quail

To shrink, cower, or draw back in fear, dread, or loss of courage.

Sibilance

A hissing quality of sound, or the hissing sound itself.

Ipso Facto

by the fact itself

Rescinded

revoked, canceled, or repealed

Contentious

quarrelsome, inclined to argue

Ameliorate

to improve, make better, correct a flaw or shortcoming