Screwtape Letters Vocabulary List

hedonist

someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures

bawdy

humuously vulgar

gluttony

habitual eating to excess

abjection

a low or downcast state

teetotalism

abstaining from alcohol

peevishness

a cranky, irritable, or petulant feeling or disposition

anodyne

capable of relieving pain

undulation

no injurious to physical or mental health

innocuous

not injurious to physical or mental health

panacea

hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases

flippant

showing an inappropriate lack of seriousness

platitude

a trite or obvious remark

incongruity

the quality of disagreeing

lascivious

driven by lust

coterie

an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose

feckless

generally incompetent and ineffectual

mawkish

very sentimental or emotional

rhapsody

a state of elated bliss

jocular

characteristic by jokes and good humor

qualm

uneasiness about the fitness of an action

unobtrusive

not undesireable noticeable

endemic

native to or confined to a certain region

insipid

lacking interest or significance or impact

transcendental

existing outside of or not in accordance with nature

irremediable

impossible to correct or redress

titular

existing in name only

inveterate

habitual

pedantic

marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning

venial

warranting only temporal punishment

scruples

motivation deriving from ethical or moral principles

redolent

having a strong pleasant odor

unmitigated

not diminished or moderated in intensity or severity

pique

call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response

indissoluble

incapable of being broken up

disillusioned

freed from false ideas

demure

shy or modest, often in a playful or provocative way

rapacious

living by preying on other animals

asceticism

rigorous self-denial and active self-restraint

puerile

displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity

nuptials

the social event at which the marriage ceremony is performed

flout

treat with contemptuous disregard

foment

try to stir up

promulgated

formally made public

querulous

habitually complaining

obtuse

of an angle, between 90 and 180 degrees

avarice

reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth

virile

characteristic of a man

transitory

lasting a very short time

meritorious

deserving reward or praise

cynicism

a pessimistic feeling of a distrust