Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy                    Vocabulary List 5

1.       Contumely [73] – insulting manifestation  of contempt in words or actions, contemptuous or humiliating treatment

2.       Captious [73] – apt to notice and make much of trivial faults and defects; faultfinding; difficult to please

3.       Diadem [75] – crown

4.       Adjunct [75] – addition; something added to another thing, but essentially a part of it

5.       Netherward [75] – lying beneath the earth; infernal [Read the third sentence in the paragraph.]

6.       Factitiously [75] – unnaturally; not spontaneously

7.       Juxtaposed [76] – placed side by side; close to each other

8.       Esplanade [76] – any open level space, especially one serving for public walks or drives

9.       Prevision [78] – foresight; foreknowledge; vision

10.       Peregrination [87] – traveling from one place to another; journey

11.    Apposite [88] – suitable, well-adapted, pertinent

12.    Antecedent [92] – going before; preceding [ante = before]

13.    Peremptorily [93] – leaving no opportunity for denial or refusal; imperatively

14.    Perspicacious [101] – having keen mental perception; discerning; perceptive

15.    Superciliousness [103] – haughty disdainfulness; contemptuousness

16.    Piquant [108] – stimulating, interesting, attractive [also means agreeably pungent, sharp, or biting. Do you see the relationship between these definitions?]

17.    Epicure[108]  – one who cultivates a refined taste in eating and drinking. One given up to sensual enjoyment, esp. in eating; a glutton [Do you see the relationship to Epicurean?]

18.    Somnolence [119] – sleepiness, drowsiness

19.    Desultory [123] – veering about from one thing to another; disconnected, unmethodical, or fitful

20.    Alternation [123] – alternate succession; appear, occurrence, or change by turns

English IV