To Kill a Mockingbird
Vocabulary
Key Concept #1 Vocabulary
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arbitrated
diminutive
edification
ascertain
disapprobation
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impressionistic
condescension
dispensation
predilection
apothecary
• noun
• Pharmacist
– Ex. in olden days the
apothecary had few drugs
that actually cured anything,
most substances being little
more than pain relievers
arbitrated
• verb
• settling a dispute between parties by a person
chosen or agreed to by them
– Ex. The council will arbitrate among the interest
groups.
ascertain
• Verb
• finding out definitely
• learning with certainty or assurance
– Ex. The information can be ascertained by anyone
with a computer.
condescension
• noun
• behavior that is
patronizing
• superior behavior or
attitude
diminutive
• adjective
• small, little, or tiny
disapprobation
• noun
• disapproval or
condemnation
dispensation
• noun
• an exemption or release from
a rule
– Ex. The state gave the town a
special dispensation, allowing it
to ignore the law in this case.
edification
• noun
• intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement
• Enlightenment
– Ex. A family-oriented show tried including an
edification of their television audience in addition
to entertaining them.
impressionistic
• adjective
• giving a broad picture or
general idea rather than
an exact description
– Ex. Monet’s
impressionistic painting
style began a new genre
in art during the
nineteenth century.
predilection
• noun
• preference
• Partiality
– Ex. I had a predilection for
orange-flavored foods
while I was pregnant.
Key Concept #2 Vocabulary
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aberration
invective
apoplectic
obstreperous
caste
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philippic
denunciation
prerogative
interdict
rudiments
aberration
• Noun
• the fact or an instance of deviating or being
aberrant especially from a moral standard or
normal state
– Ex. For her, such a low grade on an exam was an
aberration.
apoplectic
• Adjective
• Greatly excited or angered
– Ex. She was positively apoplectic
with anger when she realized she
had been cheated.
caste
• Noun
• a division of society based
on differences of wealth,
inherited rank or privilege,
profession, occupation, or
race.
– Ex. He was from a higher
caste.
denunciation
• Noun
• a public condemnation
– Ex. The attack drew strong
denunciations from leaders
around the world.
interdict
• Noun
• a prohibitory decree
– Ex. The Catholic Church's interdict against the use
of birth control is controversial.
invective
• Adjective
• of, relating to, or characterized by insult or
abuse
– Ex. His boss sends emails full of invective to
everyone.
obstreperous
• Adjective
• stubbornly resistant to control
– Ex. An obstreperous crowd protested the
government's immigration policy.
philippic
• Noun
• a discourse or declamation full of bitter
condemnation
– Ex. The head coach was briefly suspended after
launching into a foul-mouthed philippic during a
press conference.
prerogative
• Noun
• an exclusive or special right, power, or
privilege
– Ex. If you'd rather sell the tickets than use them,
that's your prerogative.
rudiments
• Noun
• a basic principle or element or a fundamental
skill
– Ex. They were teaching themselves the rudiments
of rational government.
Key Concept # 3 Vocabulary
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acrimonious
fey
aggregation
fortitude
connivance
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mollified
elucidate
uncouth
expunge
unmitigated
acrimonious
• Adjective
• Bitter and sharp in language or tone
– “We could tell, however, when debate became
more acrimonious than professional, but this was
from watching lawyers other than our father.”
aggregation
• Noun
• A group or mass of distinct and varied
things, persons, etc.
– “Entailments are bad, I was advising him,
when I slowly awoke to the fact that I was
addressing the entire aggregation.”
connivance
• Noun
• The act of cooperating
secretly or conspiring
– “When asked upon what grounds,
Judge Taylor said, ‘Champertous
connivance,’ and declared he hoped to
God the litigants were satisfied by each
having had their public say.”
Note: In law, the word also means tacit encouragement
or assent to wrongdoing by another.
elucidate
• verb
• to provide clarification, explanation
– “We asked Miss Maudie to elucidate: she said
Miss Stephanie seemed to know so much about
the case she might as well be called on to testify.”
expunge
• Verb
• To strike or blot out;
erase, obliterate
– “Judge Taylor told the
reporter to expunge
anything he happened to
have written down after
Mr. Finch …”
fey
• adjective
• Supernatural, unreal, enchanted
– “Local opinion held Mr. Underwood to be an
intense, profane little man, whose father in a
fey fit of humor christened Braxton Bragg, a
name Mr. Underwood had done his best to live
down.”
fortitude
• noun
• Mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty,
adversity, danger, or temptation courageously
– “He bore with fortitude her Wait Till I Get You Home, Your Folks
Are Out of Their Minds Worryin', was quite calm during That's
All the Harris in You Coming Out, smiled at her Reckon You Can
Stay One Night, and returned the hug at long last bestowed
upon him.”
mollified
• verb
• Calmed in temper, soothed,
lessened in intensity
– “Mollified, Mayella gave Atticus a
final terrified glance and said to Mr.
Gilmer, "Well sir, I was on the porch
and …”
uncouth
• Adjective
• Strange and ungraceful in appearance or
form.
– “Atticus's mouth, even, was half-open, an attitude
he had once described as uncouth.”
unmitigated
• Adjective
• Not diminished or moderated in intensity or
severity; without exception, absolute
– “And so a quiet, respectable, humble Negro who
had the unmitigated temerity to 'feel sorry' for a
white woman has had to put his word against two
white people's.”
Key Concept #4 Vocabulary
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cynical
impertinence
stolidly
eccentricities
notoriety
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untrammeled
feral
recluse
vehement
furtive
cynical
• Adjective
• Bitterly or sneeringly
distrustful, contemptuous,
or pessimistic
– “The witnesses for the state, with the
exception of the sheriff of Maycomb
County, have presented themselves to
you gentlemen, to this court, in the
cynical confidence that their
testimony would not be doubted…”
eccentricities
• noun
• Oddities or peculiarities,
as of conduct
– “After nine hours of
listening to the
eccentricities of Old
Sarum's inhabitants, Judge
Taylor threw the case out
of court.”
feral
• Adjective
• Of or characteristic of wild animals; ferocious;
brutal.
– “Jem made a feral noise in his throat.”
furtive
• Adjective
• sly; shifty; secret
– "Something furtive," Aunt Alexandra said. "You
may count on that.“ "Nobody has much chance
to be furtive in Maycomb," Atticus answered
impertinence
• Noun
• Unmannerly intrusion or presumption;
irrelevance, inappropriateness, or absurdity.
– “Miss Stephanie eyed me suspiciously, decided
that I meant no impertinence, and contented
herself with…”
notoriety
• Adjective
• The state, quality, or character of being
notorious or widely known; celebrated person
recluse
• noun
• A person who lives in
seclusion or apart from
society, often for religious
meditation.
– “I sometimes felt a twinge of remorse, when passing
by the old place, at ever having taken part in what
must have been sheer torment to Arthur Radleywhat reasonable recluse wants children peeping
through his shutters…”
stolidly
• Adverb
• Not easily stirred or moved mentally;
unemotional; impassive.
– "Doesn't make it right," said Jem stolidly. He beat
his fist softly on his knee.
untrammeled
• Adjective
• Unrestrained; unhindered
vehement
• Adjective
• characterized by rancor or anger; violent;
strongly emotional; intense or passionate
– “Atticus was speaking so quietly his last word
crashed on our ears. I looked up, and his face was
vehement.”