Frankenstein Vocab- Part 1

dilate

expand

ex. The optometrist dilated my eyes to check their health.

Odious

Hateful, unpleasant, repulsive

ex. The odious language used in his speech made the people lose respect for his administration.

Progeny

Children, offspring

ex. The deer’s progeny followed their mother to the spring.

Expedient

suitable, and practical although it may be improper or immoral

ex. The expedient choice was to cheat on the test because it was simple and would boost my grade.

Capacious

Spacious, roomy

ex. The room felt very capacious after all of the furniture was taken out.

Ardent

Passionate, enthusiastic

ex. The student was ardent about their major and talked passionately on the topic.

Emancipated

set free from legal, social, or political restrictions

ex. The daughter felt the only way to emancipate herself from her parents was to move away.

Wretched

miserable

ex. I felt wretched when I had a cold and was unable to stay home.

Paroxysm

Spasm, convulsion or a sudden attack of a particular emotion

ex. I was sent into a paroxysm of weeping when I discovered my dog had died.

Harrowing

Distressing, agonizing

ex. In class today, we had to read a harrowing story about a ghost.

Oblivion

Forgetfulness, state of being unaware or unconscious

ex. I fell into oblivion when I got a bad score on my math test.

Rankling

irritating, cause annoyance or resentment that persists

My sister continued rankling me as I was doing my homework.

penury

Extreme poverty

ex. They found themselves in deep penury after their father had lost his job.

caprice

whim, sudden change of mood or behaviour

ex. I decided to skip the math homework and my friends thought it was quite the caprice in my behavior.

cursory

hastily done

ex. The teacher took a cursory glance over the class to make sure everyone was focused

prognosticate

predicted, foretold or prophesy

ex. The meteorologist could prognosticate whether it would rain today, and it did.

countenance

face or facial expression

ex. Her somber countenance showed how she felt about the situation.

indefatigable

persisting tirelessly

ex. She was an indefatigable feminist and spread the word about the wage gap.

physiognomy

A person’s facial features, usually to show their character or ethnic origin

ex. The physiognomy of her face was soft, just like her personality.

Obliterated

destroy completely

ex. After the fire there was nothing left, it had all been obliterated.

fetter

shackle

ex. The fetter of her shame kept her from speaking.

immutable

unchanging

ex. Her kind spirit proved immutable despite her hardships.

vacillating

fluctuating, wavering

ex. As I tried to select my major, I kept vacillating between literature and history.

salubrious

Healthful, health-giving

ex. As the weather shifted from cold to warm, it was salubrious to my faltering mental health.

carnage

Destruction of life, mass killing

ex. The carnage of the attack was drastic and furthered the death toll of the war.

ignominious

public disgrace or shame

ex. She was at risk of ignominious defeat when she left the convent.

timorous

fearful, nervous, lack of confidence

ex. She was timorous about presenting her TMP for college board.

obdurate

stubborn

ex. I was obdurate in my stance against 6-day weeks.

perdition

damnation, complete ruin

ex. She drifted towards perdition as she left her morals.

inexorable

impossible to stop or prevent

ex. No one can stop the inexorable fate of death.