Part 1—1984

 

 1. Truncheon – club

2. Aureole – halo

3. Mutable – changeable [mutability – changeability; changeableness]

4. Myriad – innumerable

5. Labyrinthine – intricate

6. Vapid – dull; uninterested

7. Sinecure – easy job

8. Palpable – obvious

9. Anodyne – pacifier; relief from pain

10. Convoluted – coiled

11. Officious – meddlesome

12. Lassitude – fatigue

13. sanguine – ruddy

14. nebulous – unclear; vague

15. urbane – sophisticated

16. inexorably – relentlessly; without stopping

17. demeanor – behavior

18. philologist – a person who studies languages and their development

19. abject – spiritless

20. frontispiece – an illustration facing the title page of a book

21. interminable – never-ending

22. concertina – an accordion; here used to mean very wrinkled

23. altercation – a noisy, angry dispute

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Vocabulary Lists

[Simply select the grouping you are interested in and either 1. print the selection  or 2. throw it into your word processor and print that.]

Part 2—1984

1. Fatuous – foolish; silly

2. Etiolate – weaken [etiolated – pale; sickly]

3. Obeisant – meek [obeisance – bow]

4. Prosaic – factual

5. Febrile – feverish

6. Simian – apelike

7. Persiflage – frivolity; light joking

8. Feral – savage

9. Fecund – fertile

10. Spurious – counterfeit

11. Inimical – hostile

12. Avaricious – greedy

13. Nucleus – center

14. Ossify – harden; grow rigidly conventional

15. Livid – discolored

16. malignant – evil

17. enunciate – proclaim; pronounce very clearly

18. iniquity – evil; sin

19. orator – skilled public speaker

20. harangue – rant; make a vehement speech

21. meritorious – deserving of honor

22. latent – existing but not yet developed

23. tenets – beliefs

24. drivel – stupid things [driveling – imbecilic]

Part 3—1984

1. Insidious – sly

2. Surly – sullen

3. Prevaricate – lie

4. Vindicate – confirm; justify

5. Quail [v] – cower; flinch

6. Degrade – debase; make lower or make feel lower

7. Forlorn – miserable

8. Torpid – inactive

9. Premonitory – warning

10. Cauterize – sear

11. Abstruse – complex

12. Equivocation – uncertainty

13. Heretic – dissenter

14. bludgeon – v beat with a club    n. – a weapon; a heavy object such as a baseball bat

15. hedonistic – pleasure seeking

16. capitulate – give up

17. haggle – argue [hagglings – arguments]