Scarlet Letter Vocab 1-12

Lethe

Personification of forgetfulness and oblivion, one of the 5 rivers of the underworld

Nepenthe

Relief of memories/pain, banishes sorrow/grief

plebian

Commoner, worker, laborer

Emolument

Salary/profit

Contumaciously

Willfully disobedient, defiant, or stubbornly resistant to authority

Prolific

Plentiful

Anathemas

Formal curses or condemnations (often used in religious contexts to declare something or someone accursed, rejected, or excommunicated)

Preternatural

Beyond what is normal or natural

Panoply

An impressive array, full set, a complete/large collection

Eldritch

Weird or sinister, ghostly

Expatiate

To speak/write at length or in detail

Lord of Misrule

Figure appointed during medieval festival, presided over temporary chaos, sanctioned moment, order broken down

Requital

Return or reward for a service, kindness, or wrongdoing

Mountebank

A person who decieves another by selling fake remedies/pretenses

Inimical

Unfriendly, hostile

Self- abasement

Humiliation of oneself especially as a result of guilt, shame, or the like

Decorously

Acting in a polite, proper, or dignified manner

Palliate

Make less severe or unpleasant without removing the cause (usually referring to a disease)

Machinations

Plots or schemes

Veneration

Great respect, reverance

Self- flagellation

Practice of whipping or beating ones own body, traditionally used as a religious ritual for penance, atonement, or spiritual discipline

Expiation

Making amends/reparation for guilt or wrongdoing

Heterodox religionist

Belief systems or groups that hold views different from traditional religious teachings

malefactresses

Female criminal, lawbreaker, or evildoer

Hussy

A housewife; disreputable woman who behaves disrespectfully

Haughty

Acting proud, looking down on others because you are better than them

Brazen

Bold without shame

Ignominious

Causing or deserving public shame, disgrace l, or humiliation

Pillory

Wooden device used to lock a persons head and hands for shaming and mockery

Halberd

Combination of spear and battle axe

Martyrdom

Dying or suffering for beliefs/attention

Progenitors

Ancestors/ parents

Superfluous

Unnecessary, more than enough

Mutability

Tendency to change

Sprite

An elf or fairy

Incubus

A demon that visits women in their sleep to conceive children

Physiognomy

A persons facial features or expression

Essay

To try

Leech

Doctor or healer

Bunyan’s Awful doorway

Symbolizes moment when sinner must confront the truth, judgement, or damnation

Iniquity

Wickedness, very wrong and immoral action

Phantasmagoric

Dreamlike, bizarre, and constantly shifting

Paracelsus

Renaissance healer, known for radical medical experiments; alchemist

Lurid

Shocking or sensational