Jane Eyre Vocab

Torpid

sluggish in functioning or act

Bilious

of or indicative of a peevish ill-natured disposition

Impudence

a state of being marked by contemptuous boldness or disregard of others

Pungent

a sharp stinging or biting quality especially of odors

Trifle

something of little value substance or importance

Benefactress

a woman who confers a benefit one that makes a gift

Ignominy

deep personal humiliation and disgrace

Consecration

to make or declare sacred

Opprobrium

something that brings disgrace

Reviled

subjected to verbal abuse

Consternation

amazement or dismay that hinders or throws into confusion

Tumult

disorderly agitation or milling about of a crowd usually with confusion of voices

Noxious

physically harmful or destructive to living beings

Propensity

an often intense natural inclination or preference

Sanguine

having temperament marked by sturdiness high color and cheerfulness

Interloper

one that intrudes in a place or sphere of activity

Artifice

clever or artful skill also false or insincere behavior

Precocious

exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age

Parley

to speak with another

Cadence

a rhythmic sequence or flow of sounds in language

Insuperable

incapable of being surmounted passed over or solved

Audacious

contemptuous of law religion or decorum

Capricious

governed by impulsive and seemingly unmotivated notion or action

Usurious

practicing usury the lending of money at exorbitant interest rates

Preternatural

exceeding what is natural or regular

Cessation

to delay be idle

Refectory

a dining hall

Ravenous

very eager or greedy for food satisfaction or gratification

Throng

a multitude of assembled persons

Ewer

a vase-shaped pitcher or jug

Assiduity

marked by careful unremitting attention or persistent application

Truculent

feeling or displaying ferocity

Penurious

marked or suffering from a cramping and oppressive lack of resources

Perfidious

the quality or state of being faithless or disloyal

Ameliorated

to make better or more tolerable

Effluvia

an invisible emanation especially an offensive exhalation or smell

Scourge

a cause of wide or great affliction

Ostensible

intended for display open to view

Soporific

causing or tending to cause sleep

Effaced

eliminated or made indistinct by or as if by wearing away a surface

Docile

easily taught led or managed

Injudicious

not judicious indiscreet unwise

Fastidious

very attentive to matters of cleanliness or detail

Stile

a step or set of steps for passing over a fence or wall

Affability

being pleasant and at ease in talking to others

Gregarious

fond of company sociable

Salubrious

favorable to or promoting health or well-being

Assuage

to lessen the intensity of something that pains or distresses

Lugubrious

exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful

Confabulation

informal talk or discussion

Harangue

a ranting speech or writing

Anathema

something or someone that one vehemently dislikes

Traverse

to go or travel across or over

Sagacity

being keen in sense perception

Meretricious

tawrily and falsely attractive

Supercilious

coolly and patronizingly haughty

Physiognomy

facial features held to show qualities of character by their configuration

Propitious

favorably disposed

Impetuous

marked by impulsive vehemence or passion

Presentiments

intuitive feelings about the future

Ascetic

strict self-denial as a measure of personal and especially spiritual discipline

Vicinage

a neighboring or surrounding district

Acumen

keenness of perception or discrimination especially in practical matters

Automaton

an individual who acts in a mechanical fashion

Talisman

an object held to act as a charm to avert evil and bring good fortune

Inanition

the exhausted condition that results from lack of food and water

Expostulate

to reason earnestly for purposes of dissuasion or remonstrance

Impetus

a driving force impulse

Avaricious

greedy excessively acquisitive in seeking to hoard riches

Eschew

to avoid habitually especially on moral or practical grounds

Remonstrance

an earnest presentation of reasons for opposition or grievance

Odious

arousing or deserving hatred or repugnance

Emaciated

abnormally thin or weak especially because of illness or a lack of food

Pallid

deficient in color

Quiescent

marked by inactivity or repose tranquilly at rest

Remuneration

something that pays an equivalent to for a service loss or expense

Elysium

the abode of the blessed after death in classical mythology

Morass

marsh swamp figurative a complicated or confused situation

Ebullition

a sudden violent outburst or display

Coadjutor

one who works together with another

Superfluity

excess oversupply

Veneration

respect or awe inspired by the dignity wisdom or talent of a person

Diffidence

state of being hesitant in acting or speaking through lack of self-confidence