English vocabulary words from The Queen's Gambit

C1

Frock

A woman’s dress.

Disposition

The particular type of character that a person naturally has.

Jovial

Friendly and in a good mood.

Turmoil

A state of confusion, uncertainty, or disorder.

Sheaf

A bundle of objects of one kind.

Taut

Tight or completely stretched.

Gayer hours

A period of greater happiness.

Rococo

Decorated & detailed style in art.

Feint

Make a deceptive or distracting movement.

Incredulously

In a way that shows you do not want or are unable to believe something.

Insolent

Rude and not showing respect.

Pavlova

Dessert, meringue base and filled with fruit.

Strop

A strip of leather that you can rub a knife, etc. on in order to make the blade sharp.

Deplorable

Very bad.

Demerits

Fault or disadvantage.

Valise

Small suitcase.

Subtleties

A subtle distinction, feature, or argument.

Shone

Past tense of shine.

Chiffonier

A piece of wooden furniture with cupboards that are closed by doors.

Unperturbed

Not worried about something, especially when this is slightly surprising.

Dexterity

The ability to perform a difficult action quickly and skilfully with the hands.

Peony

Garden plant with large pink/red/white flowers.

Drab

Boring, especially in appearance; having little colour and excitement.

Precocity

The condition of showing mental development or achievement much earlier than usual.

Poised

Completely still but ready to move at any moment.

Serenely

In a peaceful and calm way.

Innocuous

Completely harmless.

Surreptitious

Done secretly, without anyone seeing or knowing.

Mirth

Laughter, humour, or happiness.

Plausibility

The quality of seeming likely to be true, or possible to believe.

Wryly

In a way that shows you find a bad or difficult situation slightly funny.

Austerely

In a way that is very simple or plain, without decoration or unnecessary details.

Tranquil

Calm and peaceful and without noise, violence, worry, etc.

Askew

Not straight or level.

Exulted

To express great pleasure or happiness, especially at someone else's defeat or failure.

Chauvinism

The strong and unreasonable belief that your own country or race is the best or most important.

Apprehension

The act of understanding something, or the way that something is understood.

Ponderous

Slow and awkward because of being very heavy or large.

Formidable

Strong and powerful, and therefore difficult to deal with if opposed to you.

Coarse

Rough and not smooth or soft.

Disarray

The state of being confused and having no organization or of being untidy.

Parry

To manage cleverly to avoid dealing with a difficult question or some criticism.

Misconstrued

To form a false understanding of the meaning or intention of something that someone does or says.

Roiling

To (cause to) move quickly in a twisting circular movement.

Astringent

Severe.

Hastily

Said or done in a hurry, sometimes without the necessary care or thought.

Murk

A situation where there is doubt or uncertainty.

Shuck

To remove the shell or natural covering from something that is eaten.

Palpable

So obvious that it can easily be seen or known.

Dichotomy

A difference between two completely opposite ideas or things.

Voracious

Very eager for something.

Antimacassar

A cloth, used mainly in the past, for putting over the back of a chair in order to keep it clean or to decorate it.

Perfunctory

Done quickly, without taking care or interest.

Gaberdine

A thick cloth that is especially used for making coats.

Worsted

A type of cloth made from wool.

Pantheon

A small group of people or things that are considered to be the most important ones of their type.

Burnished

Smooth and shiny, usually because of being polished.

Sanguine

Positive and hoping for good things.

Equilibrium

A state of balance, calm mental state.

Cunningly

In a cleverly planned way, especially when this involves tricking other people.

Ebullient

Very energetic, positive, and happy.

Merciless

Showing no mercy.

Mussed

To make something untidy.

Conciliatory

Showing willingness to end a disagreement, or trying to make someone less angry.

Inquisitively

In a way that shows that you want to discover as much as you can about something, or want to know something.

Doze

A short, light sleep from which you can easily wake up.

Oddity

Someone or something that is strange and unusual.

Recognition

People show admiration and respect for your achievements.

Astonishment

Very great surprise.

Embrace

To hold someone tightly / accept something.

Ambassador

An important official who works in a foreign country representing his or her own country there.

Wearily

In a way that shows that you are very tired.

Grunt

To make a short, low sound instead of speaking, usually because of anger or pain.

Exquisite

Very beautiful and delicate.

Imprecision

The state or quality of being not accurate or exact.

Numb

Not able to feel any emotions or to think clearly.

Remorselessly

In a way that shows no sadness or guilt about doing something wrong.

Hurdle

A problem that you have to deal with before you can make progress.

Countermove

An action by one person that is a reaction to an action by someone else.

Foresee

To know about something before it happens.

Wits

Intelligence and the ability to think quickly.

Resurrect

To bring back something into use or existence that had disappeared or ended.

Intricate

Having a lot of small parts that are arranged in a complicated or delicate way.

Allotment

The process of sharing something, or the amount that you get.

Sophisticated

Having a good understanding of the way people behave and/or a good knowledge of culture and fashion.

Decanter

A decorative glass container for wine.

Lapel

A strip of cloth that is attached to the collar.

Entrenched

Established firmly so that it cannot be changed.

Vulnerability

The quality of being vulnerable = able to be easily hurt, influenced, or attacked.

Decisive

Able to make decisions quickly and confidently.

Sacrifice

To give up something that is valuable to you in order to help another person.

Proximity

The state of being near in space or time.

Cossack

A member of a group of people from the steppes (= large areas of land with grass but no trees).

Devoid

Completely lacking something.

Abbreviation

A short form of a word or phrase.

Splendid

Very good, beautiful or impressive.

Outrage

A strong feeling of anger.

Genuine

Real/sincere.

Deprivation

A situation in which you lack basic needs.

Superintendant

A person in charge of a building or organization.