English Words - Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Working with the word list, work in progress

Scorn

The feeling that someone or something is stupid and does not deserve respect

Rudiments

The most basic part of a subject

Endowed

To give a college, hospital etc. a large sum of money

Virtuous

Behaving in a very honest and moral way

Perched

To sit on top of something

Unobtrusively

Not easily noticed

Enraptured

Enjoying something so much you can think of nothing else

Elocution

Good clear speaking in public

Lout

A rude, violent man

Delinquent

Behaving in a way that is illegal or society does not approve of

Governess

A female teacher in the past, who lived with a rich family and taught their children at home

Defiantly

Clearly refusing what someone tells you to do

Foiled

Preventing something bad that someone plans to do

Erelong

Old way of saying 'before long'

Intimation

An indirect sign that something may happen

Elusive

Difficult to find, achieve or describe/understand

Droll

Amusing in an unusual way

Tittered

To laugh quietly in a high voice, especially if you are nervous

Forsooth

Certainly

Redemption

Save or fix

Wriggle

To twist your body from side to side- / move a part of your body with quick, small movements

Mellow

Pleasant and smooth

Stragglingly

To go somewhere fairly slowly and with great space between each other

Bewilderment

A feeling of being very confused

Stupendous

Suprisingly large or impressive

Mirth

Happiness and laughter

Solemnity

The quality of being serious in behavior or manner, especially on formal occasions

Spur

Suddenly without previous planning or thought

Ensuing

Happening after a action or event, especially as a result of it

Illicitly

Not allowed by laws or rules, or heavily disapproved of by society

Ferocity

The state of being extremely violent and severe

Tweed

Rough wollen cloth made from threads of different colours

Sheaves

Several pieces of paper, held or tied together

Inquire

To ask someone for information

Abode

Someone's home, often used humorously

Eyrie

The nest of a large bird or a room or building that is very high up

Beseech

To eagerly and anxiously ask someone for something

Yon

Over there, used to explain where someone or something is (pronomen/adverb)

Erstwhile

Former or in the past

Lithe

Having a body that moves easily and gracefully

Squarely

Directly and firmly

Stride

A long step

Twilight

The small amount of light in the sky when the day is coming to an end

Incanting

To recite spells or magic words

Feasible

Something that is possible and likely to work

Fraught

Full of anxiety or worry

Girdle

A piece of women's underwear, which makes her look thinner

Enthralled

To make someone very interested and excited, so that they listen carefully

Cultivate

To work hard to develop a particular skill, attitude or quality

Swivelled

To turn around quickly and face a different direction, or make an object do this

Vocation

The feeling that your purpose in life is do a particular type of work

Mien

A person's typical expression or appearance

Frivolous

Not serious or sensible, in a way that is not suitable

Ochre

A type of reddish-yellow earth used in paints

Bulbuos

Fat, round and unattractive

Seditious

Speech, writing or actions intended to encourage people to disobey the government

Linoleum

A floor covering made from strong shiny material

Spinster

An unmarried woman, usually one who is no longer young and seems unlikely to marry

Ardour

Very strong admiration or excitement, strong feelings of love

Expanse

A very large body of land, water, sky etc

Nagging

To keep asking or complaining to someone, in an annoying way

Brood

A family of young birds or a family with a lot of children

Regimented

Strictly controlled, organized or disciplined

Betokened

To be a sign of something

Scullery

A room next to the kitchen where cleaning jobs were done

Dispensation

Special permission from someone in authority

Grille

A frame with metal bars across it, that protects a window or door

Supercilious

Behaving as if other people are less important than you

Squalor

Being dirty and unpleasant because of a lack of care or money

Parlour

A room in a house which has comfortable chairs and is used for meeting guests, used for names of business

Adhering

To stick firmly to something

Diligence

Steady, careful and persistent effort

Magnificently

Very good or beautiful, very impressive

Glen

A deep narrow valley in Scotland or Ireland

Subversive

Ideas or activities that are secret and intended to damage an established system

Imputed

To suggest someone or something is the cause of a situation, especially a bad one

Dole

Money given by the government in Britain to people who are unemployed

Frugal

Careful to buy only what is necessary

Jerkily

Rough, with many starts and stops

Trifle

Something unimportant or not valuable

Enfeebled

Very weak or ill

Shrewd

Good at judging what people or situations are really like

Bronzed

Having skin that is brown because you have been in the sun

Innate

A quality or ability that you are born with

Sublime

So good or beautiful that it affects you deeply

Jurisdiction

The official and formal right to make decisions about something

Discretion

The freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation

Valour

Great courage, especially in war

Unduly

More than is normal or reasonable

Indignation

Feelings of anger and suprise because you feel insulted or unfairly treated

Seethed

To feel an emotion, especially anger, so strongly that you are almost shaking

Convulsions

A shaking movement of your body that you cannot control

Exasperation

When you feel annoyed because someone continues to do something that is upsetting you

Antecedents

An event, organization, or thing that is similiar to the one you have mentioned but existed earlier

Devious

Using dishonest tricks and deceiving people in order to get what you want

Goad

To make someone do something by annoying or encouraging them until they do it

Discerned

To notice or understand something by thinking about it carefully

Omitted

To not include someone or something, either deliberately or because you forgot

Anglicized

To make something or someone more English

Deviating

To change what you are doing so that you are not following an expected plan