Frankenstein Vocabulary

Countenance (noun)

face / visage, especially indicating a mood or expression

“His [Victor’s] _______ instantly assumed an aspect of the deepest gloom.”

Ameliorate (v.)

to make better or more tolerable; improve

“…partly from curiosity and partly from a strong desire to _______ his fate if it were in my (Walton’s) power.”

Integrity (n.)

firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values

“and they can judge of our (Walton) actions with more certain conclusions as to the ________ of our motives.”

Indefatigable (adj)

incapable of being fatigued; untiring; unrelenting

“He (Waldman) said that ‘These were men to whose __________ zeal modern philosophers were indebted for most of the foundations of their knowledge.’”

Sempulchre (n.)

a place of burial/tomb or a receptacle for religious relics especially in an altar.

“He [Clerval] tried to make us act plays and to enter into masquerades, in which the characters were drawn from the heroes of Roncesvalles, of the Round Table of King Arthur, and the chivalrous train who shed their blood to redeem the holy _______ from the hands of the infidels.”

Caprice (n.)

A sudden, impulsive, and seemingly unmotivated notion

“By one of those _______ of the mind which we are perhaps most subject to in early youth, I [Victor] at once gave up my former occupations, set down natural history and all its progeny as a deformed and abortive creation, and entertained the greatest disdain for a would-be science which could never even step within the threshold of real knowledge.”

Fervent (adj)

exhibiting or marked by great intensity of feeling

“I [Victor] have described myself as always having been imbued with a ______ longing to penetrate the secrets of nature.”

Galvanism (n.)

Study of generation of electric current by chemical action

“On this occasion a man of great research in natural philosophy was with us, and excited by this catastrophe, he entered on the explanation of a theory which he had formed on the subject of electricity and _________, which was at once new and astonishing to me [Victor]”

Omnipotent (adj)

having virtually unlimited authority or influence; powerful

“It moved every feeling of wonder and awe that the picture of an _____ God warring with his creatures was capable of exciting.”

Uncouth (adj)

lacking in polish and grace; awkward and uncultivated in appearance, manner, or behavior

“Sometimes I wished to express my sensations in my own mode, but the ______ and inarticulate sounds which broke from me frightened me into silence again”

Chimeras (n.)

an illusion or fabrication of the mind, especially an unrealizable dream

“The ambition of the inquirer seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those visions on which my [Victor'] interest in science was chiefly founded. I was required to exchange ________ of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth”

Pulpit (n.)

an elevated platform or high reading desk used when giving speeches. Could be figurative platform too. “high horse”

“And although I could not consent to go and hear that little conceited fellow deliver sentences out of a _____, I recollected what he had said of M. Waldman, whom I had never seen, as he had hitherto been out of town.”

Mien (n.)

demeanor, especially as expressive of attitude or personality;

“She [Elizabeth] is very clever and gentle, and extremely pretty; as I [Victor] mentioned before, her ___ and her expression continually remind me of my dear aunt.”

Physiognomy (n.)

external / physics aspect; the facial features held to show qualities of mind or character by their configuration or expression

“I [Victor] attended the lectures and cultivated the acquaintance of the men of science of the university, and I found even in M. Krempe a great deal of sound sense and real information, combined, it is true, with a repulsive _______ and manners, but not on that account the less valuable”

Pedantry (n.)

excessive concern with minor details and rules. In adjectival form, a ______ person is an annoying and constantly corrects others over minor details.

“His (Waldman’s) gentleness was never tinged by dogmatism, and his instructions were given with an air of frankness and good nature that banished every idea of ______.”

Lassitude (n.)

a condition of weariness or debility; fatigue. Different from languor as it stresses listlessness or indifference resulting from fatigue .

“At length _______ succeeded to the tumult I [Victor] had before endured, and I threw myself on the bed in my clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness.”

Demoniacal (adj.)

Demonic

“I [Victor] took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited, where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the ______ corpse [creature] to which I had so miserably given life.”

Languor (n.)

weakness or weariness of body or mind

“Sometimes my [Victor’s] pulse beat so quickly and hardly that I felt the palpitation of every artery; at others, I nearly sank to the ground through _____ and extreme weakness.”

Pertinacity (n.)

resolutely adherence to an opinion with persistence and tenacity.

“Doubtless my words surprised Henry; he at first believed them to be the wanderings of my disturbed imagination, but the _______ with which I continually recurred to the same subject persuaded him that my disorder indeed owed its origin to some uncommon and terrible event.”

Convalescence (n.)

time spent recovering from an illness or medical treatment; recuperation.

“It was a divine spring, and the season contributed greatly to my [Victor’s] ________.”

Diffident (adj)

modest or shy because of a lack of self-confidence.

“Young men should be ______ of themselves, you know, M. Clerval: I [Krempe] was myself when young; but that wears out in a very short time.”

Perambulations (n.)

the act of walking around, surveying land, or touring

“We passed a fortnight in these ________: my health and spirits had long been restored, and they gained additional strength from the salubrious air I breathed, the natural incidents of our progress, and the conversation of my friend. “

Ignominy (n.)

public shame or disgrace.

“Dear lady, I [Justine] had none to support me; all looked on me as a wretch doomed to ________ and perdition.”

Exculpate (v.)

show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing.

“A thousand times rather would I have confessed myself guilty of the crime ascribed to Justine, but I was absent when it was committed, and such a declaration would have been considered as the ravings of a madman and would not have ________ her who suffered through me.”

Ephemeral (adj.)

lasting for a very short time.

“It was during an access of this kind that I [Victor] suddenly left my home, and bending my steps towards the near Alpine valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such scenes, to forget myself and my ________, because human, sorrows.”

Clemency (n.)

mercy; lenience.

“Oh, Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other and trample upon me [Monster] alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy _______ and affection, is most due.”