LOF vocabulary

specious (adj)

Something that seems plausible but is actually not, almost misleading

“Ralph had been deceived before now by the specious appearance of depth in a beach pool and he approached this one preparing to be disappointed. But the island ran true to form and the incredible pool, which clearly was only invaded by the sea at high tide, was so deep at one end as to be dark green”(12) .

effulgence (noun)

The ability to shine brightly

“With that word the heat seemed to increase till it became a threatening weight and the lagoon attacked them with a blinding effulgence”(14).

emnity (noun)

The state of being actively opposed/hostile to someone or something

“He trotted through the sand, enduring the sun’s enmity, crossed the platform and found his scattered clothes”(14).

decorous (adjective)

Polite and restrained

“Suddenly Piggy was a-bubble with decorous excitement”(15).

indignation (noun)

Anger provoked by what is perceived as unfair treatment

“‘You can’t come’... ‘I’m sorry if you feel like that’…Piggy stood and the rose of indignation faded slowly from his cheeks”(25).

hiatus (noun)

A pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process

“There came a pause, a hiatus, the pig continued to scream and the creepers to jerk, and the blade continued to flash at the end of a bony arm”(31).

ebullience (noun)

The quality of being cheerful and full of energy

“Then, with the martyred expression of a parent who has to keep up with the senseless ebullience of the children, he picked up the conch, turned toward the forest, and began to pick his way over the tumbled scar”(38).

recrimination (noun)

An accusation in response to someone else's accusation

“‘That’s what I said! I said about our meetings and things and then you said shut up–’ His voice lifted into the whine of virtuous recrimination”(43).

tumult (noun)

confusion or disorder

“‘You said you wanted a small fire and you been and built a pile like a hayrick. If I say anything,’ cried Piggy, with bitter realism, ‘you say shut up; but if Jack or Maurice or Simon–’ He paused in the tumult, standing, looking beyond them and down the unfriendly side of the mountain to the great patch where they had found dead wood”(43).

furtive (adjective)

Attempting to hope or avoid notice typically due to guilt or trying to hide something

“Jack himself shrank at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath, and for a minute became less a hunter than a furtive thing, ape-like among the tangle of trees”(49).

inscrutable (adjective)

impossible to understand

“Jack lifted his head and stared at the inscrutable masses of creeper that lay across the trail”(49).

incredulous (adjective)

Unwilling or unable to believe something

“‘There’s nothing in it of course. Just a feeling. But you can feel as if you’re not hunting, but—being hunted, as if something’s behind you all the time in the jungle.’ They were silent again: Simon intent, Ralph incredulous and faintly indignant”(53).

belligerence (noun)

aggressive or warlike behavior

“Percival was mousecolored and had not been very attractive even to his mother; Johnny was well built, with fair hair and a natural belligerence”(60).

chastisement (noun)

Act of scolding or punishing someone

“In his other life Maurice had received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand. Now, though there was no parent to let fall a heavy hand, Maurice still felt the unease of wrongdoing”(60).

incursion (noun)

an invasion or attack

“Perhaps food had appeared where at the last incursion there had been none; bird droppings, insects perhaps, any of the strewn detritus of landward life”(61).

disinclination (noun)

Reluctance or lack of enthusiasm

“There had grown up tacitly among the biguns the opinion that Piggy was an outsider, not only by accent, which did not matter, but by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and a certain disinclination for manual labor”(65).

derisive (adjective)

Expressing contempt or ridicule

“The derisive laughter that rose had fear in it and condemnation. Simon opened his mouth to speak but Ralph had the conch, so he backed to his seat”(86).

discursive (adjective)

Relating to discourse or modes of discourse

“The assembly shredded away and became a discursive and random scatter from the palms to the water and away along the beach, beyond night-sight”(92).

incantation (noun)

A series of words said as a magic spell or curse

“Percival Wemys Madison, of the Vicarage, Harcourt St. Anthony, lying in the long grass, was living through circumstances in which the incantation of his address was powerless to help him”(94).

interminable (adjective)

Endless

“An interminable dawn faded the stars out, and at last light, sad and grey, filtered into the shelter”(99).

tremulously (adjective)

Affected with trembling or tremors

“The twins, holding tremulously to each other, dared the few yards to the next shelter and spread the dreadful news”(99).

leviathan (noun)

A sea monster

“Then the sleeping leviathan breathed out, the waters rose, the weed streamed, and the water boiled over the table rock with a roar” (105).

decorum (noun)

Behavior in keeping good taste and propriety

“Not one of them was an obvious subject for a shower, and yet—hair, much too long, tangled here and there, knotted round a dead leaf or a twig; faces cleaned fairly well by the process of eating and sweating but marked in the less accessible angles with a kind of shadow; clothes, worn away, stiff like his own with sweat, put on, not for decorum or comfort but out of custom;

apprehension (noun)

Anxiety or fear that something bad will happen

“Ralph was full of fright and apprehension and pride”(113).

sagely (adverb)

In a profoundly wise manner

“Everybody agreed, sagely”(118).

antagonism (noun)

Active hostility or opposition

“Ralph sighed, sensing the rising antagonism, understanding that this was how Jack felt as soon as he ceased to lead”(118).

impervious (adjective)

Unable to be affected by

“So they sat, the rocking, tapping, impervious Roger and Ralph, fuming; round them the close sky was loaded with stars, save where the mountain punched up a hole of blackness”(121).

bravado (noun)

A bold manner or show of boldness in order to impress or intimidate

“Ralph surprised himself, not so much by the quality of his voice, which was even, but by the bravado of its intention”(122).

contemptuous (adjective)

Showing contempt, scornful

“Go up and see,” said Jack contemptuously, “and good riddance”(124).

cynicism (noun)

An inclination to believe that people are purely motivated by self-interest

“The half-shut eyes were dim with the infinite cynicism of adult life”(137).

indignity (noun)

Situation or treatment that causes one to lose dignity

“He opened his eyes quickly and there was the head grinning amusedly in the strange daylight, ignoring the flies, the spilled guts, even ignoring the indignity of being spiked on a stick”(137).

iridescent (adjective)

Showing luminous colors that seem to change when the angle is changed

“They were black and iridescent green and without number; and in front of Simon, the Lord of the Flies hung on his stick and grinned”(138).

corpulent (adjective)

Fat

“Then as the blue material of the parachute collapsed the corpulent figure would bow forward, sighing, and the flies settle once more”(146).

parody (noun)

Imitation of something particularly for comedic effect

“The tangle of lines showed him the mechanics of this parody; he examined the white nasal bones, the teeth, the colors of corruption”(146).

succulent (adjective)

Tender or juicy

“The boys with the spit gave Ralph and Piggy each a succulent chunk”(149).

gesticulating (verb)

Using gestures to emphasize one's words

“He was gesticulating, searching for a formula”(156)

stricken (adjective)

Seriously affected by an undesirable or unpleasant feeling

“Ralph’s voice, low and stricken, stopped Piggy’s gestures”(156).

convulsively (adverb)

To do something in an irregular way

“Memory of the dance that none of them had attended shook all four boys convulsively”(158).

torrid (adjective)

Very hot and dry

“Sitting on the tremendous rock in the torrid sun, Roger received this news as an illumination”(159).

luminous (adjective)

Emitting or reflecting glowing light

“The twins watched anxiously and Piggy sat expressionless behind the luminous wall of his myopia”(169).

myopia (noun)

Nearsightedness 

“The twins watched anxiously and Piggy sat expressionless behind the luminous wall of his myopia”(169).

propitiatingly (adverb)

In a way to appease or conciliate

“Piggy nodded propitiatingly”(173).

truculent (adjective)

Eager or quick to argue

“Truculently they squared up to each other but kept just out of fighting distance”(177).

inimical (adjective)

Tending to obstruct or harm

“To carry he must speak louder; and this would rouse those striped and inimical creatures from their feasting by the fire”(187).

ululation (noun)

High-pitched noise resembling a howl

“Eric raised his head and achieved a faint ululation by beating on his open mouth. Then he glanced behind him nervously”(189).

crepitation (noun)

1. A cracking or rattling noise

2. “ He heard a curious trickling sound and then a louder crepitation as if someone were unwrapping great sheets of cellophane”(194).