FAHRENHEIT 451

Vocabulary Part 2“The Sand and the Sieve”

Tyranny (n)A form of government that has one ruler as absolute dictator who cannot be challenged.

Her mother would never allow her to make her own decisions, and because of such parental tyranny, she wanted to run away.

Perfunctory (adj)

Hasty, done without attention to detail

When his mother reminded him that it was time to get ready for bed, he began saying a perfunctory prayer.

Cadence (n)A recurrent rhythmical series of steps, sounds, notes, etc.

The cadence of the poem showed us that it could be put to the tune of “Amazing Grace.”

Suffused (adj)Being spread throughout as with color, light, or liquid

The forest was so suffused with fog that she could barely find her way back home.

Retaliate (v)

To make a counter attack or to return a deed equally, especially an evil deed

When the older brother punched his little brother in the back, the younger boy retaliated like a rabid bulldog.

Romantic (adj)

A creative, idealistic, soulful, emotional person

Many people might consider Mrs. Thibadeau to be a Romantic because she teaches her students creativity and thoughtfulness and passion.

Intuitively (adv)Known or understood through senses or “a feeling” rather than through rational, logical thought

Even though the team could not prove it, they knew intuitively that the other team had players illegally participating.

Insidious (adj)

Dangerous, working in a hidden and usually

injurious way.

She thought she would be fine until she tried quite the insidious drug, meth.

Welter (n)A confused multitude of things, a confusing mass, a jumble.

Thousands of people gathered in an enormous welter to protest the new law.

Contemptible (adj)Deserving scorn, not worthy of praise, low-down, not noble.

He thought that making fun of the new kid would make him more popular, but the other students actually found his behavior contemptible.

Subaudible (adj)

Barely able to be heard, almost entirely imperceptible

The teacher asked her a question, which she answered, but her words were subaudible to the rest of the class.

Ruinous (adj)

Causing injury, ruin, destruction.

The young man did not realize that his words could be ruinous to the teacher’s career.

Quavered (v)

Trembled, shook, spoke in a trembling voice.

When she became angry, her voice quavered like dry, brittle leaves in the wind.

ManifestedShowed; revealed; made obvious

When I became upset and angry, my emotions manifested themselves through hours of cleaning and scrubbing the house from top to bottom.

Parried (v)Deflected; warded off; avoided

When she came home after a night out, her mother always asked lots of questions, but she always parried mom’s inquiries by yawning or pretending to have a headache and asking to go to bed immediately.

Rebut (v)

To prove to be false or incorrect

His teacher gave fantastic information, but one student always tried to rebut her facts.

Beatific (adj)

Experiencing or bestowing celestial joy; blissfully happy; joyous

When he saw his bride walking down the aisle, his face lit up in a beatific smile.

VOCABULARY & F451 QUIZ

Friday, 14 November 2014