vocab list

  1. foliage (adj) p. 9 : forested leaves; vines; natural growth

    1. Sample sentence: The hiker cut through the foliage, forming a clear path.

    2. Context (as it appeared in the text) sentence (include page number): “He put on his glasses, waded away from Ralph, and crouched down among the tangled foliage.”(9)

    3. My own original sentence: The encroaching foliage seemingly crawled up the redwood’s trunk and appeared to be strangling the majestic tree.




  3. incredulous (adj) pg 19: unwilling to accept what is offered as true

    1. Sample sentence: Jenny was incredulous when she saw the breaking news about another shooting. 

    2. Context sentence:  They were twins, and the eye was shocked and incredulous at such cheery duplication.


  1. My own original sentence: My mother stared incredulously at my math grade.



  1. furtive (adj) pg 22: secret in an underhanded way; stealthy 

    1. Sample sentence: Before Homecoming, the juniors and the seniors made a furtive deal that no one expected. 

    2. Context sentence:There was a slight, furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy."

    3. My own original sentence: I looked around furtively, hoping my parents wouldn’t notice me texting during dinner.



  1. obscure (adj) p. 22 : difficult to see; vague

    1. Sample sentence: Because of the obscure directions to the party, JaeWoo arrived late. 

    2. Context sentence: But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch

    3. My own original sentence: The instructions to my project were obscure, making it difficult to start.



  1. bastion (noun) pg 29: a stronghold

    1. Sample sentence: The towering bastion intimidated every enemy that dared to approach it. 

    2. Context sentence:There, where the island petered out in water, was another island; a rock, almost detached, standing like a fort, facing them across the green with one bold, pink bastion.

    3. My own original sentence: After reading about bastions used in the olden times, I longed to see one in real life.


  1. ebullience (noun) pg 38: state of overflowing with excitement; showing enthusiasm

    1. Sample sentence: Sally’s natural ebullience was infectious, so everyone was happy after seeing her. 

    2. Context sentence: 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.


  1. My own original sentence:  My childhood was so happy, I wondered where all of my ebullience went.




  1. officious (adj) pg 40: overly obliging; insisting on providing a service not requested

    1. Sample sentence: Everyone was bothered by the waiter’s officious manner, as he kept asking if the customers needed any help. 

    2. Context sentence: “ There was pushing and pulling and officious cries.”



  1. My own original sentence: My new classmate was so officious it made me uncomfortable.




  1. abyss (noun) pg 49: bottomless hole; a vast expanse or depth

    1. Sample sentence: Anshul’s knees started to tremble as he looked down into the great abyss.

    2. Context sentence: Only when Jack himself roused a gaudy bird from a primitive nest of sticks was the silence shattered and echoes set ringing by a harsh cry that seemed to come out of the abyss of ages.

    3. My own original sentence: My greatest fear is heights, just looking down out at the abyss makes me terrified.




  1. inscrutable (adj) pg 49: difficult to understand; mysterious

    1. Sample sentence: Due to the inscrutable nature of the task, Vivian did not finish the lab on time.

    2. Context sentence: Jack lifted his head and stared at the inscrutable masses of creeper that lay across the trail.  



  1. My own original sentence: Terrifying stories fill the news headlines every day, filled with inscrutable conflicts. 




  1. vicissitude (noun) pg 49: the quality or state of being changeable

    1. Sample sentence: Because of the vicissitudes of the market, a businessman can be rich one day but poor the next. 

    2. Context sentence: “Jack stood there, streaming with sweat, streaked with brown earth, stained by all the vicissitudes of a day's hunting."



  1. My own original sentence: Getting to bed and waking at the same time each day helps me from being affected by the vicissitudes of life.



  1. declivity (noun) pg 54: downward slope

    1. Sample sentence: Sam stumbled as he came running down the rocky declivity. 

    2. Context sentence: But Jack was pointing to the high declivities that led down from the mountain to the flatter part of the island.



  1. My own original sentence: The mountain range was filled with all sorts of varying declivities. 




  1. tacit: (adj) pg 55: understood; silent; not spoken

    1. Sample sentence: Kevin and Eleanor had a tacit agreement that they would eliminate everyone in the competition before facing each other. 

    2. Context sentence: Jack nodded, as much for the sake of agreeing as anything, and by tacit consent they left the shelter and went toward the bathing pool.



  1. My own original sentence: My friend and I have a tacit understanding not to bring up school outside of class.




  1. dubious (adj) pg 59: doubtful; not clear

    1. Sample sentence: After being lied to many occasions, Alice was now dubious of Thomas’s new story. 

    2. Context sentence:The decrease in size, from Ralph down, was gradual; and though there was a dubious region inhabited by Simon and Robert and Maurice, nevertheless no one had any difficulty in recognizing biguns at one end and littluns at the other.



  1. My own original sentence: I was dubious of my sister’s understanding of the text.




  1. disinclination (noun) pg 65: a desire to avoid; aversion

    1. Sample sentence: Elizabeth had a disinclination to eat the school’s food after seeing how the school prepared it. 

    2. Context sentence: 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.



  1. My own original sentence: I had a disinclination towards picking up insects.



  1. malevolently (adv) pg 71: to have ill will or evil intentions

    1. Sample sentence: Allison glared malevolently as John bought the jacket that she really wanted. 

    2. Context sentence: He looked malevolently at Jack.



  1. My own original sentence: I narrowed my eyes, glaring malevolently at my sister. 


  1. parody (noun) pg 72: humorous or ridiculous imitation

    1. Sample sentence: Everyone laughed at the parody of Romeo and Juliet, with its exaggerated duels and absurd plot twists.

    2. Context sentence: "Just you wait—" Jack mimicked the whine and scramble. ... Piggy and the parody were so funny that the hunters began to laugh



  1. My own original sentence: My friend began a hilarious parody of our math teacher, not realizing that he was right behind her.




  1. lamentably (verb) pg 77: regrettably; unfortunately

    1. Sample sentence: Lamentably, I must inform you that the Giants lost this weekend. Even more unfortunate is the news that the Dodgers won.

    2. Context sentence: On the left were four small logs, one of them—the farthest—lamentably springy.


  1. My own original sentence: Lamentably, I lost my favorite pen in school yesterday.



  1. decorum (noun) pg 89: appropriate conduct; correct and proper behavior

    1. Sample sentence: The principal expected high levels of decorum from the students attending the prom.

    2. Context sentence: That was from Piggy, shocked out of decorum.


  1. My own original sentence: My sister has way better decorum than I.




  1. discursive (adj) pg 92: rambling; moving from one topic to another randomly

    1. Sample sentence: The teacher did not like John’s presentation, as his discursive speech made it difficult for anyone to follow.

    2. Context sentence: 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.

 

  1. My own original sentence: Whenever my dad talks, he begins to talk discursively.




  1. interminable (adj) pg 99: having or seeming to have no end

    1. Sample sentence: The traffic jam was interminable for the teachers traversing Highway 17 on their way to teach their beloved Saratoga High students.

    2. Context sentence:  An interminable dawn faded the stars out, and at last light, sad and grey, filtered into the shelter.


  1. My own original sentence: The interminable lecture seemed to last 2 hours.

  1. diffidently (adv) pg 103: shyly; timidly

    1. Sample sentence: Not confident in himself, Michael diffidently suggested what turn out to be a brilliant idea.

    2. Context sentence: Ralph was coming along, holding his spear over his shoulder. Diffidently, Simon allowed his pace to slacken until he was walking side by side with Ralph and looking up at him through the coarse black hair that now fell to his eyes.


  1. My own original sentence: I diffidently told my mom why I think I need a new room.




  1. covert (noun; can also be used as adj) pg 109: a thicket (n); concealed (adj)

    1. Sample sentence: 

      1. (noun) The shadow of an eagle overhead startled the game hens, sending them running back into the nearby coverts to hide.

      2. (adj) America conducted many covert operations during the Cold War in order to stop the spread of communism.

    2. Context sentence: If you could shut your ears to the slow suck down of the sea and boil of the return, if you could forget how dun and unvisited were the ferny coverts on either side, then there was a chance that you might put the beast out of mind and dream for a while.



  1. My own original sentence: I covertly slipped my friend some candy in class.



  1. obtuseness (noun) pg 111: dullness of mind; insensitivity

    1. Sample sentence: Edgar’s obtuseness has hurt many people’s feelings, as he frequently says insensitive things.

    2. Context sentence:On the other side of the island, swathed at midday with mirage, defended by the shield of the quiet lagoon, one might dream of rescue; but here, faced by the brute obtuseness of the ocean, the miles of division, one was clamped down, one was helpless, one was condemned, one was— Simon was speaking almost in his ear.


  1. My own original sentence:  My teacher is prone to obtuseness when speaking about grades.



  1. ruefully (verb) pg 115: regretfully

    1. Sample sentence: Jill ruefully admitted that taking seven AP classes during junior year was not a good idea.

    2. Context sentence: He rubbed his rump ruefully.



  1. My own original sentence: I ruefully agreed that my mom was right, I never keep my room clean.



  1. impervious (adj) pg 121: incapable of being entered; not capable of being damaged

    1. Sample sentence: The Mongolians tried every way they could to penetrate the impervious Great Wall of China.

    2. Context sentence:So they sat, the rocking, tapping, impervious Roger and Ralph…


  1. My own original sentence: The concrete wall stood impervious despite the hurricane.

  1. demure (adj) pg 133: shy; hesitant

    1. Sample sentence: The demure child sat quietly in his seat, rarely speaking at all.

    2. Context sentence:Each of them wore the remains of a black cap and ages ago they had stood in two demure rows and their voices had been the song of angels


  1. My own original sentence: It is important not to act overly confident in a job interview, but to have the right mix of being bold and demure.



  1. vexed (adj) pg 139: discomforted; distressed

    1. Sample sentence: Will was vexed when he heard that he still had five more laps of freestyle left.

    2. Context sentence:He was vexed to find how little he thought like a grownup and sighed again

    3. My own original sentence: I was vexed staring at my math homework, unable to figure it out.



  1. derision (noun) pg 149: scoffing at; mockery; ridicule

    1. Sample sentence: The journalist earned the public’s derision when he published an inaccurate article in the newspaper

    2. Context sentence: Piggy once more was the center of social derision



  1. My own original sentence: I scoffed with derision at my classmates lackluster presentation.


  1. ferocity (noun) pg 179: savagery

    1. Sample sentence: The boxer attacked with a type of ferocity that reminded the audience of a lion.

    2. Context sentence: Then they were facing each other again, panting and furious, but unnerved by each other's ferocity

    3. My own original sentence: The bear snarled with ferocity at passerby, scaring them.



  1. ululation (noun) pg 189: howl; a long, loud, emotional utterance

    1. Sample sentence: Everybody was shocked when the boy let out a loud ululation during the middle of class.

    2. Context sentence: Eric raised his head and achieved a faint ululation by beating on his open mouth.



  1. My own original sentence: The ululation of surrounding wolves sent a chill down my spine.