Vocabularyfor

The Scarlet Letter

extant

•existing

pestilence

•plague

vista

•view

depravity

•corruption

mountebank

•“con” man;•pretender

profane

•unholy

scrupulous

•conscientious

sagacity

•wisdom

vilify

•to slander

decorous

•proper

bestow

•to give

repose

•rest

machination

•plot; scheme

abase

•to humble

pristine

unspoiled

to accost

•to greet

propinquity

•nearness

dexterity

•skill

petulant

•peevish

cadence

•rhythm

to mollify

•to soften; to pacify; to appease

vex

•to annoy

to requite

•to repay

probity

•honesty

mien

•manner

fortitude

•courage

auditor

• listener

venerable

•respected

necromancer

•sorcerer

petrified

•hardened

transgressor

•sinner

purport

•meaning

visage

•face

iniquity

•wickedness; sin

to rankle

•to irritate

fervor

•zeal; enthusiasm

exhort

•to incite; to urge

efficacy

•effectiveness

retribution

•punishment

progenitors

•forefathers

emolument

• income

concoct

•to devise

insidious

•treacherous; more dangerous than meets the eye

inopportune

• inconvenient

to procure

•to obtain

attire

clothing

revile

•to scold

enmity

•dislike

preternatural

•strange

to caper

•to skip