question

Grandeur

answer

The quality of being magnificent or splendid or grand. Noun. "There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away any sense of grandeur he might have had" (1 "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings").

question

Magnanimous

answer

Very generous or forgiving. Adjective. "Then they felt magnanimous and decided to put the angel on a raft with fresh water and provisions for three days and leave him to his fate on the high sees" (1 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Stupor

answer

Stunned or confused and slow to react. Noun. "They both looked at the fallen body with a mute stupor" (1 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Antiquarian

answer

Of or relating to antiques or rare books. Adjective. "Alien to the impertinences of the world, he only lifted his antiquarian eyes and murmured something in his dialect when Father Gonzaga went into the chicken coop and said good morning to him in Latin" (2 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Sidereal

answer

Of or relating to the stars or constellations. Adjective. "A traveling carnival arrived with a flying acrobat who buzzed over the crowd several times, but no one paid any attention to him because his wings were not those of an angel, rather, those of a sidereal bat" (2 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Proliferate

answer

To increase rapidly in numbers. Verb. "Especially during the first days, when the hens pecked at him, searching for the stellar parasites that proliferated in his wings, and the cripples pulled out feathers to touch their defective parts with, and even the most merciful through stones at him, trying to get him to rise so they could see him standing" (3 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Frivolous

answer

Not having any serious purpose or value. Adjective. "By that time onlookers less frivolous than those at dawn had already arrived and they were making all kinds of conjectures concerning the captive's future" (2 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Lament

answer

To express grief or regret. Verb. "The owners of the house had no reason to lament" (4 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Bailiff

answer

A person that performs certain actions under legal authority. Noun. "Pelayo watched over him all afternoon from the kitchen, armed with his bailiff's club, and before going to bed he dragged him out of the mud and locked him up with the hens in the wire chicken coop" (1 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Warren

answer

A series of connected underground tunnels occupied by rabbits. Noun. "Pelayo also setup a rabbit warren close to town and gave up his job as bailiff for good, and Elisenda bought some satin pumps with high heels and many dresses of iridescent silk, the kind worn on Sunday by the most desirable women in those times" (4 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Ungainly

answer

(Of a person or movement) awkward or clumsy. Adjective. "They were so clumsy that his fingernails opened a burrow in the vegetable patch and he was on the point of knocking the shed down with the ungainly flapping that slipped on the light and couldn't get a grip on the air" (4 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Spittoon

answer

A jar-like container to spit into. Noun. "Then he pushed the spittoon with the tip of his shoe, and went to wash his hands in the washbasin"(2 "One of These Days").

question

Impede

answer

To delay or prevent. Verb. "He had to go very close to see that it was an old man, a very old man, lying face down in the mud, who, in spite of his tremendous efforts, couldn't get up, impeded by his enormous wings" (1 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Catechism

answer

A book giving a brief summary of the basic principles of Christianity in question-and-answer form. Noun. "Standing by the wire, he reviewed his catechism in an instant and asked them to open the door so that he could take a close look at the pitiful man who looked more like a decrepit hen among the fascinated chickens" (2 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Impertinence

answer

Lack of respect or rudeness. Noun. "Alien to the impertinences of the world, he only lifted his antiquarian eyes and murmured something in his dialect when Father Gonzaga went into the chicken coop and said good morning to him in Latin" (2 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Creolin

answer

A compound used to disinfect and deodorize animal pens. Noun. "If they washed it down with creolin and burned tears of myrrh inside it every so often, it was not in homage to the angel but to drive away the dungheap stench that still hung everywhere like a ghost and was turning the new house into an old one" (4 "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings").

question

Reproach

answer

To address someone in a way as to express disapproval or disappointment. Verb. "The boss would certainly come with the doctor from the health insurance company and would reproach his parents for their lazy son and cut short all objections with the insurance doctor's comments; for him everyone was completely healthy but really lazy about work" (4 The Metamorphosis).

question

Harem

answer

The wives of a polygamous man. Adjective. "Other traveling salesmen live like harem women" (2-3 The Metamorphosis).

question

Futile

answer

Unable to produce any results. Adjective. "Such were the thoughts, completely futile in his present condition, that went through his head as he stood clinging upright to the door and listening" (page 22 The Metamorphosis).

question

Slinky

answer

Graceful and sinuous in movement. Adjective. " The first children who saw the dark and slinky bulge approaching through the sea let themselves think it was an enemy ship" (1 "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World").

question

Blunderbuss

answer

A large gun used at close range. Noun. "If they had been told Sir Walter Raleigh, even they might have been impressed with his gringo accent, the macaw on his shoulder, his cannibal-killing blunderbuss, but there could be only one Esteban in the world and there he was, stretched out like a sperm whale, shoeless, wearing the pants of an undersized child, and with those stony nails that had to be cut with a knife" (3 "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World").

question

Macaw

answer

A large long-talied parrot with brightly colored plumage. Noun. "If they had been told Sir Walter Raleigh, even they might have been impressed with his gringo accent, the macaw on his shoulder, his cannibal-killing blunderbuss, but there could be only one Esteban in the world and there he was, stretched out like a sperm whale, shoeless, wearing the pants of an undersized child, and with those stony nails that had to be cut with a knife" (3 "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World").

question

Promontory

answer

A high point of land extending into water. Noun. "But they also knew that everything would be different from then on, that their houses would have wider doors, higher ceilings, and stronger floors so that Esteban's memory could go everywhere without bumping into beams and so that no one in the future would dare whisper the big bo*b finally died, too bad, the handsome fool has finally died, because they were going to paint their house fronts gay colors to make Esteban's memory eternal and they were going to break their backs digging for springs among the stones and planting flowers on the cliffs so that in future years at dawn the passengers on great liners would awaken, suffocated by the smell of gardens on the high seas, and the captain would have to come down from the bridge in his dress uniform, with his astrolabe, his pole star, and his row of war medals and, pointing to the promontory of roses on the horizon, he would say in fourteen languages, look there, where the wind is so peaceful now that it's gone to sleep beneath the beds, over there, where the sun's so bright that the sunflowers don't know which way to turn, yes, over there, that's Esteban's village" (3 "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World").

question

Astrolabe

answer

An instrument that used to be used to make astronomical measurements and in navigation for calculating the latitude before the sextant. Noun. "But they also knew that everything would be different from then on, that their houses would have wider doors, higher ceilings, and stronger floors so that Esteban's memory could go everywhere without bumping into beams and so that no one in the future would dare whisper the big bo*b finally died, too bad, the handsome fool has finally died, because they were going to paint their house fronts gay colors to make Esteban's memory eternal and they were going to break their backs digging for springs among the stones and planting flowers on the cliffs so that in future years at dawn the passengers on great liners would awaken, suffocated by the smell of gardens on the high seas, and the captain would have to come down from the bridge in his dress uniform, with his astrolabe, his pole star, and his row of war medals and, pointing to the promontory of roses on the horizon, he would say in fourteen languages, look there, where the wind is so peaceful now that it's gone to sleep beneath the beds, over there, where the sun's so bright that the sunflowers don't know which way to turn, yes, over there, that's Esteban's village" (4 "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World").

question

Gaff

answer

A spar in which the head of the front and the back of the sail are bent. Noun. "They improvised a litter with the remains of foremasts and gaffs, tying it together with rigging so that it would bear the weight of the body until they reached the cliffs" (3 "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World").

question

Gabled

answer

(Of a roof) constructed with a single slope on each side of the ridge supported at the end by a gable or vertical triangular portion of an end wall. Adjective. "However, that church and the main Protestant one are at least still standing, as well, as the town hall, the canals and bridges, the gabled houses, the city gates, and the market square with its eight-pointed compass star in the middle" (xiii Girl with a Pearl Earring).

question

Milieu

answer

A person's social environment. Noun. "With story and characters established, I set out to research Vermeer and his milieu" (xii "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Indeterminate

answer

Not known or established. Adjective. "Her eyes are an indeterminate color, her hair is hidden, and her head is turned at such an angle that it is hard to know what the shape of her face is" (xiv "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Enigmatically

answer

Mysteriously or in a cryptic manner. Adverb. "The girl remains an unsolved mystery and, as a result, is still gloriously, enigmatically, enchantingly, everlastingly herself (xv "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Adage

answer

A proverb or wise saying. Noun. "It also proves the old adage, once and for all--no matter what tricks I used, a picture is most certainly worth my thousand words, or more. (xv "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Flagon

answer

A large metal or pottery vessel with a handle and spout. Noun. "My mother's voice--a cooking pot, a flagon--approached from the front room" (3 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Askew

answer

Something that is crooked or tilted. Adjective. "Her cap was askew so that tiny blond curls escaped and hung about her forehead like bees which she swatted as impatiently severe times" (4 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Prattle

answer

Foolish talk. Noun. "'That's enough prattle,' the woman declared" (6 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Stiver

answer

Coin used in the Netherlands before World War Two. Noun. "'If you do well, you will be paid eight stivers a day'" (6 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Sulk

answer

To be silent and bad-tempered out of disappointment. Verb. "He and she had always fought like carts but she sulked for days once he was gone" (9 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Gloat

answer

To express over satisfaction. Verb. "They would not gloat, however" (11 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Poling

answer

The act of propelling (a boat) by pushing a pole against the bottom of a river, canal, or lake. Verb. "The man poling the boat called out a greeting to me" (12 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Stork

answer

A tall, long-legged wading bird. Noun. "In our favorite game, one of use chose a point and one of use named a thing--a stork, a church, a wheelbarrow, a flower--and we ran in that direction looking for that thing" (13 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Game

answer

Play games of chance for money. Verb. "They liked to eat and drink and sing and game" (13 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Pockmarked

answer

To be covered or disfigured with scars (typically from chickenpox). Adjective. "The woman standing in the doorway had a broad face, pockmarked from an earlier illness" (16 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Bulbous

answer

Something that is bulb-shaped or bulging. Adjective. "Her nose was bulbous and irregular, and her thick lips were pushed together to form a small mouth" (16 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Chemise

answer

A woman's loose-fitting undergarment. Noun. "She wore a grey-brown dress with a white chemise, a cap tied tight around her head, and an apron that was not as clean as mine" (16 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Gape

answer

To stare with an open mouth. Verb. "'Come now, no need to idle and gape'" (17 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Chamberpots

answer

Small pots that fit under the bed used for going the bathroom. Noun. "Next to the Crucifixion room where Maria Thins sat, towards the front of the house, was a smaller room with children's beds, chamberpots, small chairs and a table, on it various earthenware, candlesticks, snuffers, and clothing, all in a jumble" (19 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Earthenware

answer

Dishes made of baked clay. Noun. "Next to the Crucifixion room where Maria Thins sat, towards the front of the house, was a smaller room with children's beds, chamberpots, small chairs and a table, on it various earthenware, candlesticks, snuffers, and clothing, all in a jumble" (19 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Snuffers

answer

Scissors for cropping and holding the snuff of a candlewick. Noun. "Next to the Crucifixion room where Maria Thins sat, towards the front of the house, was a smaller room with children's beds, chamberpots, small chairs and a table, on it various earthenware, candlesticks, snuffers, and clothing, all in a jumble" (19 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Cistern

answer

A tank for rain water. Noun. "There's a cistern in the cooking kitchen but you'd best get your water for washing from the canal--it's clean enough in this part of town" (20 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Fishmonger

answer

One who prepares and sells fish. Noun. "Seagulls hovered above the stalls, waiting for the fishheads and innards the fishmongers threw into the canal" (28 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Innards

answer

Internal organs. Noun. "Seagulls hovered above the stalls, waiting for the fishheads and innards the fishmongers threw into the canal" (28 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Pailful

answer

A quantity needed to fill a bucket. Noun. "I wanted to step into my mother's kitchen and hand her the pailful of chops" (28 "Girl with a Pearl Earring").

question

Improvident

answer

Lacking foresight; not cautious. Adjective. "In his [Unoka] day he was lazy and improvident and was quite capable of thinking about tomorrow" (4 "Things Fall Apart").

question

Harmattan

answer

A dry, parching land breeze, charged with dust. Noun. "That was many years ago, twenty years or more, and during this time Okonkwo's fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan" (3 Things Fall Apart).

question

Haggard

answer

Having a gaunt, wasted, or exhausted appearance, as from prolonged suffering, exertion, or anxiety; worn. Adjective. "He [Unoka] wore a haggard and mournful look except when he was drinking or playing on his flute" (4 Things Fall Apart).

question

Plaintive

answer

Expressing sorrow or melancholy; mournful. Adjective. "He [Unoka] could hear in the mind's ear the blood-stirring and intricate rhythms of the ekwe and the udu and the ogene, and he could hear his own flute weaving in and out of them, decorating them with a colorful and plaintive tune" (6 Things Fall Apart).

question

Amiss

answer

Out of the right or proper course, order, or condition; improperly; wrongly; astray. Adjective. "Okonkwo wondered what was amiss, for he knew certainly that something was amiss" (9 Things Fall Apart).

question

Discern

answer

To perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend. Verb. "He had discerned a lear overtone of tragedy in the crier's voice. and even now he could still hear it as it grew dimmer and dimmer in the distance" (9 Things Fall Apart).

question

ultimatum

answer

A final proposal or statement of conditions. Noun. "An ultimatum was immediately dispatched to Mbaino asking them to choose between war on the one hand, and on the other the offer of a young man and virgin as compensation" (11 Things Fall Apart).

question

Emissary

answer

A representative sent on a mission or errand. Noun. "And so when Okonkwo of Umuofia arrived at Mbaino as the proud and imperious emissary of war, he was treated with great honor and respect, and two days later he returned with a lad of fifteen and a young virgin" (12 Things Fall Apart).

question

Malevolent

answer

Wishing evil or harm to another or others; showing ill will; ill-disposed; malicious. Adjective. "It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw" (13 Things Fall Apart).

question

Imperious

answer

Overbearing, arrogant; seeking to dominate; pressing, compelling. Adjective. "And so when Okonkwo of Umuofia arrived at Mbaino as the proud and imperious emissary of war, he was treated with great honor and respect, and two days later he returned with a lad of fifteen and a young virgin" (12 Things Fall Apart).

question

Bowels

answer

Interior, inside, core. Noun. "The sickness was an abomination to the earth, and so the victim could not be buried in her bowels" (18 Things Fall Apart).

question

Abomination

answer

Anything abominable; anything greatly disliked or abhorred. Noun. "He died of the selling which was an abomination to the earth goddess" (18 Things Fall Apart).

question

Afflict

answer

(Of an illness) to cause pain. Verb. "When a man was afflicted with swelling in the stomach and the limbs he was not allowed to die in the house" (18 Things Fall Apart).

question

Perpetual

answer

Continuing or enduring forever; everlasting. Adjective. "His wives, especially the youngest, liven in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his children (13 Things Fall Apart).

question

Contemptible

answer

Deserving of or held in contempt; despicable. Adjective. "And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life and shameful death" (18 Things Fall Apart).

question

Meagre

answer

Deficient in quantity or quality; lacking fullness or richness;scanty; inadequate. Adjective. "And what made it worse in Okonkwo's case was that he had to support his mother and two sisters from his meagre harvest" (22 Things Fall Apart).

question

Brusqueness

answer

Abrupt in manner; blunt; rough. Noun. "But he was struck, as most people were, by Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men" (26 Things Fall Apart).

question

Kindred

answer

Relationship by birth or descent, or sometimes by marriage;kinship. Noun. "Everybody at the kindred meeting took sides with Osugo when Okonkwo called him a woman" (26 Things Fall Apart).

question

Benevolent

answer

Characterized by or expressing goodwill or kindly feelings. Adjective. "But it was really not true that Okonkwo's palm-kernels had been cracked for him by a benevolent spirit" (27 Things Fall Apart).

question

Atone

answer

To make amends or reparation, as for an offense or a crime, or for an offender (usually followed by for). Verb. "That was why Okonkwo had been chosen by the nine village to carry a message of war to their enemies unless they agreed to five up a young woman and a virgin to atone for the murder of Udo's wife" (27 Things Fall Apart).

question

Repentant

answer

Repenting; penitent; experiencing repentance. deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin,wrongdoing, or the like. Adjective. "Inwardly, he was repentant" (31 Things Fall Apart).

question

Disquieting

answer

Causing anxiety or uneasiness; disturbing. Adjective. "He [Nwoye] would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him" (33 Things Fall Apart).

question

Arduous

answer

Requiring great exertion; laborious; difficult. Adjective. "It was a brief resting period between the exacting and arduous planting season and the equally exacting but light-hearted month of harvest" (34 Things Fall Apart).

question

Poignant

answer

Keenly distressing to the feelings. Adjective. "But he [Ikemefuna] and Nwoye had become so deeply attached to each other that such moments became less frequent and less poignant" (34 Things Fall Apart).

question

Tentative

answer

Of the nature of or made or done as a trial, experiment, or attempt; experimental. Adjective. "Neither of the other wives dared to intervene beyond an occasional and tentative "It is enough, Okonkwo," pleaded from a reasonable distance" (38 Things Fall Apart).

question

Chador

answer

A large cloth worn as a combination head covering, veil, and shawl usually by Muslim women especially in Iran. Noun. "And now Madame is wearing a chador" (75 Persepolis).

question

Proletariat

answer

The class of wage earners, esp. those who earn their living by manual labor or who are dependent for support on daily or casual employment; the working class. Noun. "One day the Proletariat will rule!" (69 Persepolis)

question

Diabolical

answer

Of, relating to, or characteristic of the devil. Adjective. "Back at home that evening, I had the diabolical feeling of power..." (53 Persepolis).

question

Clandestine

answer

Marked by, held in, or conducted with secrecy. Adjective. "I went to his [Ali Ashrak Darvishian] clandestine book-signing with my mother" (33 Persepolis).

question

Pretext

answer

A reason, given in justification, of a course of action that is not the real reason. Noun. "And here's the pretext. It's the second Arab invasion..." (79 Persepolis).

question

Decadence

answer

Decline because of excessive self-indulgence. Noun. "They [bilingual schools] are symbols of Capitalism. Of decadence" (4 Persepolis).

question

Degenerate

answer

To deteriorate or decline. Verb. "Things started to degenerate" (18 Persepolis).

question

Putsch

answer

A sudden and decisive change of government illegally or by force. Noun. "The truth is that 50 years ago the father of the Shah, who was a soldier, organized a putsch to overthrow the emperor and install a republic" (19 Persepolis).

question

Cadaver

answer

A corpse. Noun. "Then there was another cadaver, an old man carried out on a stretcher" (31 Persepolis).

question

Subversive

answer

Intended to undermine or overthrow. Adjective. "Crime: wrote subversive articles in the Keyhan" (47 Persepolis).

question

Belligerent

answer

Inclined to or exhibiting assertiveness, hostility, or combativeness; aggressive. Adjective. "The walls were suddenly covered with belligerent slogans" (115 Persepolis).

question

Flagellate

answer

To whip; scourge; flog; lash. Verb. "During certain religious ceremonies, some people flagellated themselves brutally" (96 Persepolis).

question

Garland

answer

A wreath of flowers. Noun. "What are these Garlands?" (97 Persepolis).

question

Bureaucrat

answer

A minor official in a government department. Noun "But thanks to my aunt, who knew some bureaucrats in the education system, they managed to place me in another school" (144 Persepolis).

question

Veritable

answer

Actual, true, real. Adjective. "Hitting the principal was a veritable crime" (144 Persepolis).

question

Circumspect

answer

Wary, careful, cautious. Adjective. "Some people, more circumspect, took shelter in the basements of big hotels, well-known for their safety" (137 Persepolis).

question

Repressive

answer

Restraining the freedom of a person or group of people. Adjective. "Naturally, the regime became more repressive" (115 Persepolis).

question

Emanate

answer

To come forth. Verb. "Women's hair emanates rays that excite men" (74 Persepolis).

question

Dialetic

answer

Method of argument to solve disagreement. Adjective. "Now that the revolution was finally over once and for all, I abandoned the dialetic materialism of my comic strips" (53 Persepolis).

question

Fruitless

answer

Not producing the desired results, unsuccessful. Adjective. "After ten days of fruitless searching, he was not in the mood to chastise" (1 Finding Nouf).

question

Putrefied

answer

Rotten, decayed. Adjective. "It disgusted Nayir that they would wake up on Friday morning, the holy day, their bodies putrefied with gin" (1 Finding Nouf).

question

Undulate

answer

To have or to cause to have a wavy motion. Verb. "From here he had a sprawling view of the desert valley, crisp and flat, surrounded by low dunes that undulated in the golden of sunset" (1 Finding Nouf).

question

Ablution

answer

Act of cleansing. Noun. "He took a swig, then quickly knelt on the sand to perform his ablutions" (2 Finding Nouf).

question

Adoration

answer

A feeling of profound love and admiration. Noun. She'd even left the five-year-old sister who stood beside her in the picture, looking up at her with heartbreaking adoration" (3 FIdning Nouf).

question

Incongruously

answer

Not harmonious or inconsistent. Adverb. "Incongruously, the basement exterior was like an advertisement for the Old Jeddah Restoration Society" (9 Finding Nouf).

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