APLang Doug Vocab #1

want

1. (n.): Deficiency, lack. A want of information concerning my own [birthday] was a source of unhappiness to  me even during childhood.

invariably

(adv.): Always; on every occasion. [I]t is worthy of remark that such slaves invariably suffer great  hardships, and have more to contend with, than others. 

conjecture

(v./n.): To guess; to infer or surmise. He had ordered her not to go out evening [. . . .] Why  master was so careful of her, may be safely left to conjecture. 

Providence

(n): Divine guidance or care. When capitalized, Providence is a reference toGod conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny. His death was regarded by the slaves as the result of a merciful providence.

reverberate

(v.): To resound; to become filled with sound. [T]hey would make the dense old woods, for  miles around, reverberate with their wild songs.

ineffable

(adj.): Unspeakable; so extreme that it cannot be expressed in words. The hearing of those wild  notes always depressed my spirit, and filled me with ineffable sadness.

sunder

(v.): To separate or split apart, especially in a violent way. [H]e was snatched away, and forever  sundered, from his family and friends, by a hand more unrelenting than death.

imbibe

(v.): To drink or absorb; to receive into the mind. [S]laves are like other people, and imbibe prejudices quite common to others.

obdurate

(adj.): Hardened in feeling; stubbornly unwilling to change an opinion or action. He was  cruel enough to inflict the severest punishment, [. . .] and obdurate enough to be insensible to the voice of a reproving  conscience.

sparingly

(adv.): Using very little of something; moderately. [H]e dealt sparingly with his words, and  bountifully with his whip.

consummate

(adj.): Having the characteristics of a perfect example of something; complete or  perfect in every detail. His savage barbarity was equaled only by the consummate coolness with which he  committed the grossest and most savage deeds upon the slaves under his charge.

expedient

(n.): A means for getting something done; a tactic for solving a problem. He was asked by  Colonel Lloyd and my old master, why he resorted to this extraordinary expedient.

incur

(v.): To bring a negative consequence down upon oneself; to cause oneself to experience  something negative. I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than  to be false, and incur my own abhorrence. Note: Because students have found incur to be a challenging word,  I’ll provide a second example of how it can be used in a sentence: By earning a low grade on the vocab  quiz, the student incurred the wrath of his father.

unabated

(adv.): Undiminished; not reduced. These were choice documents to me. I read them over and over  again with unabated interest.

vindication

(n.): The act of justifying something. What I got from Sheridan was a bold denunciation of  slavery, and a powerful vindication of human rights.