Joy Luck Club Vocab

Benefactor

(N) a person who gives money/help to a cause

Chagrin

(N) distress caused by embarrassment

chastise

(v) to scold

cultivate

(v) to improve/develop by careful attention/study

disparage

(v) to belittle the value or importance of something

elude

(v) to dodge/avoid

felicitous

(adj) pleasant/delightful

guise

(n) external form/appearance (typically deceiving)

Ingenuity

(N) inventiveness

obstinate

(Adj) stubborn, inflexible

penance

(n) self punishment

posterity

(N) descendants

Prodigy

(n) genius, especially a young person

Revere

(v) to respect

somber

(adj) gravely serious

uncanny

(Adj) strange/mysterious, especially in an unsettling way

unequivocal

(adj) leaving no doubt; unmistakable

vehemence

(n) display of strong feeling/passion

Verbatim

(Adj) word for word

wane

(v) to decrease or diminish