scarlet letter chapter 5, 7, 9

lurid (adj)

vivid in a shocking way, sensational

annihilate (v)

to destroy completely

vivify (v)

to give life to, animate

inscrutable (adj)

mysterious, not easily understood

fain (adv)

gladly

inquisitorial (adj)

harshly prying or questioning

repugnance (n)

extreme distaste

exhortation (n)

an earnest warning, a strong urging

contumaciously (adv)

disobediently

talisman (n)

an object with magic power, a charm

impelled (v)

drove, forced, compelled

cabalistic (adj)

secret, mysterious, having to do with a mystical interpretation of scriptures developed in the middle ages

imperatively (adv)

in a demanding way

bond-servants (n)

persons who serve a master without pay, usually in return for passage or other consideration

ruffs (n)

high, stiff collars worn by both men and women in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

panoply (n)

a complete suit of armor

Pequod (pequot) war

a war that took place between the Pequots, an Algonquian people who controlled eastern Connecticut, and the British

Bacon, Coke, Noye, and Finch

famous British legal experts

eldritch (adj)

weird, eerie

appellation (n)

a name

vindicate (v)

to lay claim to, to establish possession of

consigned (v)

sent, esp., to an undesirable place or position

chirurgical (adj)

surgical

physic (n)

medical science

Elixir of Life

substance supposedly able to cure all diseases

pharmacopoeia (n)

stock of medicines

exemplary (adj)

serving as a model, worth imitating or serving as a warning

patrochial (adj)

having to do with the affairs of the parish, local

emaciated (adj)

abnormally lean, as from starvation or illness

imminent (adj)

likely to happen very soon

providential (adj)

showing the guidance of God

despondent (adj)

lacking in hope, pessimistic

importunate (adj)

annoyingly persistent, insistent

celibacy (n)

the state of being unmarried, esp. that of a person under a vow not to marry

emissary (n)

a person sent on a special mission, an agent

subordination

relying on or being controlled by someone

anomalous

deviating from what is standard

ambivalence

mixed feelings

anecdote

a short story told about a real incident

picturesque

visually attractive

remunerated

pay someone for services done

pedestrian

lacking inspiration or excitement, dull

fawning

displaying exaggerated flattery

didactic rhetoric

a form of communication intended to teach, instruct, or provide a moral lesson

aphoristic

contains concise, witty, and memorable sayings that express a general truth

litotes

ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary

synecdoche

a part for a whole