Lord of the Flies Vocabulary

English 9H

Lord of the Flies by William Golding Vocabulary

Find each of the following words as you read. Look up and record in the space provided: a) the part of speech,

b) the dictionary definition and c) the complete context sentence from the novel with MLA citation for each word. Please use a legible, brightly colored font for your typing (purple, green, blue, dark orange, dark pink, etc.) Use these words to better understand Golding’s language and purpose as you read. This vocab work is due in class the day the corresponding chapter(s) is/are due for reading HW.

Chapter 1

1. specious (12)
   1. Adjective
   2. superficially plausible, but actually wrong.: "a specious argument".
   3. “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.”

1. effulgence (14)
   1. noun
   2. A brilliant radiance; a shining forth.
   3. “With that word the heat seemed to increase till it became a threatening weight and the lagoon attacked them with a blinding effulgence.”
      
2. enmity (14)
   1. noun
   2. the state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.
   3. “He trotted through the sand, enduring the sun’s enmity, crossed the platform and found his scattered clothes.”
      
3. decorous (15)
   1. adjective
   2. in keeping with good taste and propriety; polite and restrained.
   3. “ Suddenly Piggy was a-bubble with decorous excitement.”
4. indignation (25)
   1. noun
   2. anger or annoyance provoked by what is perceived as unfair treatment
   3. “Piggy stood and the rose of indignation faded slowly from his cheeks.”
      
5. hiatus (31)
   1. noun
   2. a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process
   3. “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.”

Chapter 2 (repeat the formatting (a,b,c) as above for the following chapters)

1. ebullience (38)
   1. noun
   2. the quality of being cheerful and full of energy; exuberance
   3. “Then, with the martyred expression of a parent who has to keep up with the senseless ebullience of the children, Home Page Title Page Contents !! "" ! " Page 53 of 290 Go Back Full Screen Close Quit he picked up the conch, turned toward the forest, and began to pick his way over the tumbled scar.”
      
2. recrimination (43)
3. noun
4. an accusation in response to one from someone else.
5. His voice lifted into the whine of virtuous recrimination. They stirred and began to shout him down.

1. tumult (43)
2. Noun
3. a loud, confused noise, especially one caused by a large mass of people
4. “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.”

Chapter 3

1. furtive (49)
2. Noun
3. attempting to avoid notice or attention, typically because of guilt or a belief that discovery would lead to trouble; secretive
4. There was a slight, furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy.
5. inscrutable (49)
6. Adjective
7. impossible to understand or interpret.
8. “Jack lifted his head and stared at the inscrutable masses of creeper that lay across the trail.”
9. incredulous (53)
10. Adjective
11. impossible to understand or interpret
12. “They were twins, and the eye was shocked and incredulous at such cheery duplication.”
    

Chapter 4

1. belligerence (60)
2. Noun
3. aggressive or warlike behavior.
4. “Johnny was well built, with fair hair and a natural belligerence.”
5. chastisement (60)
6. Noun
7. the act of scolding or punishing someone
8. In his other life Maurice had received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand
9. incursion (61)
10. Noun
11. an invasion or attack, especially a sudden or brief one
12. “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.”
13. disinclination (65)
14. Noun
15. a reluctance or lack of enthusiasm.: "Lucy felt a strong disinclination to talk about her engagement
16. “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.”

Chapter 5

1. derisive (86)
2. Adjective
3. expressing contempt or ridicule
4. “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.”
5. discursive (92)
6. Adjective
7. digressing from subject to subject
8. “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.”
9. incantation (94)
10. noun
11. a series of words said as a magic spell or charm
12. “Harcourt St. Anthony, lying in the long grass, was living through circumstances in which the incantation of his address was powerless to help him.”

Chapter 6

1. interminable (99)
2. Adjective
3. Endless
4. “An interminable dawn faded the stars out, and at last light, sad and grey, filtered into the shelter.”
5. tremulously (99)
6. Adverb
7. in a nervous way that causes you or your voice to shake slightly
8. “The twins, holding tremulously to each other, dared the few yards to the next shelter and spread the dreadful news.”
9. leviathan (105)
10. Noun
11. (in biblical use) a sea monster, identified in different passages with the whale and the crocodile
12. “Then the sleeping leviathan breathed out, the waters rose, the weed streamed, and the water boiled over the table rock with a roar.”

Chapter 7

1. decorum (110)
2. noun
3. behavior in keeping with good taste and propriety
4. “That was from Piggy, shocked out of decorum.”
   
5. apprehension (113)
6. Noun
7. ?????
8. “Piggy clasped his hands in apprehension.”
   
9. sagely (118)
10. Adverb
11. in a profoundly wise manner.
12. “Everybody agreed, sagely”
13. antagonism (118)
14. Noun
15. active hostility or opposition
16. “Now the antagonism was audible.”
    
17. impervious (121)
18. Adjective
19. not allowing fluid to pass through.
20. “So they sat, the rocking, tapping, impervious Roger and Ralph, fuming; around them the close sky was loaded with stars, save where the mountain punched up a hole of blackness.”
    
21. bravado (122)
22. Noun
23. a bold manner or a show of boldness intended to impress or intimidate
24. “Ralph surprised himself, not so much by the quality of his voice, which was even, but by the bravado of its intention.”

Chapter 8

1. contemptuous (124)
2. Adjective
3. showing contempt
4. “Go up and see," said Jack contemptuously, "and good riddance."
5. cynicism (137)
6. Noun
7. an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest
8. “ The half-shut eyes were dim with the infinite cynicism of adult life.”
9. indignity (137)
10. noun
11. treatment or circumstances that cause one to feel shame or to lose one's dignity
12. “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.”
13. iridescent (138)
14. Adjective
15. showing luminous colors that seem to change when seen from different angles
16. “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.”

Chapter 9

1. corpulent (146)
2. Adjective
3. Fat person
4. “Then as the blue material of the parachute collapsed the corpulent figure would bow forward, sighing, and the flies settle once more.”
5. parody (146)
6. Noun
7. an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect
8. “For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter.”
9. succulent (149)
10. Adjective
11. Tender, juicy and tasty (food)
12. The boys with the spit gave Ralph and Piggy each a succulent chunk

Chapter 10

1. gesticulating (156)
2. Verb
3. use gestures, especially dramatic ones, instead of speaking or to emphasize one's words
4. “In a moment the platform was full of arguing, gesticulating shadows.”
5. stricken (156)
6. Verb
7. A past particle of strike
8. “Ralph's voice, low and stricken, stopped Piggy's gestures”
9. convulsively (158)
10. adverb
11. To do something in an irregular/jerky way
12. “Memory of the dance that none of them had attended shook all four boys convulsively.”
13. torrid (159)
14. Adjective
15. Hot and dry
16. “Sitting on the tremendous rock in the torrid sun, Roger received this news as an illumination”

Chapter 11

1. luminous (169)
2. Adjective
3. full of or shedding light; bright or shining, especially in the dark
4. “The twins watched anxiously and Piggy sat expressionless behind the luminous wall of his myopia.”
5. myopia (169)
6. Noun
7. Nearsightedness
8. “The twins watched anxiously and Piggy sat expressionless behind the luminous wall of his myopia.”
9. propitiatingly (173)
10. Adverb
11. in a propitiating manner
12. “Piggy nodded propitiatingly”
13. truculent (177)
14. Adjective
15. Eager or quick to argue or fight
16. “Truculently they squared up to each other but kept just out of fighting distance”

Chapter 12

1. inimical (187)
2. Adjective
3. ending to obstruct or harm.
4. “To carry he must speak louder, and this would rouse those striped and inimical creatures from their feasting by the fire”
5. ululation (189)
6. Verb
7. gerund or present participle
8. “Eric raised his head and achieved a faint ululation by beating on his open mouth. Then he glanced behind him nervously”
9. crepitation (194)
10. Noun
11. A crackling or rattling sound
12. “Once more the invisible group sniggered. He heard a curious trickling sound and then a louder crepitation as if someone were unwrapping great sheets of cellophane”