A Christmas CarolCharles Dickens

Staves 2-5 Vocabulary

half-recumbent

Stave 2

(adjective) – half lying down

When his mother checked in on him, instead of working at his desk

she found him on the floor, half-recumbent, listening to his iPod.

reclamation

Stave 2

(noun) – rehabilitation; conversion from an unsatisfactory state

Steven said that his decision to sleep until noon instead of doing

chores was a reclamation of the summer-break spirit.

jocund

Stave 2

(adjective) – merry, cheerful

I cannot help but be cheerful in such jocund company.

latent

Stave 2

(adjective) – not yet revealed or apparent; potential but not obvious yet

He has a latent talent for acting that he hasn’t had a chance to express yet.

condescension

Stave 2

(noun) – behaving in a patronizing way

Kevin’s attitude of condescension made it obvious that he thought

he was much more mature than we were.

capacious

Stave 2

(adjective) – spacious, roomy; able to hold much

That car has a capacious trunk, making it the ideal choice

for larger families.

avarice

Stave 2

(noun) – extreme greed for riches

The corporate world is plagued by avarice and a thirst for

power.

irrepressible

Stave 2

(adjective) – not capable of being controlled

She has an irrepressible sense of humor and is always

making her classmates giggle.

pillage

Stave 2

(verb) – to rob (a town) of goods, especially during war

The band of thieves took advantage of the natural disaster and

pillaged their way through abandoned stores.

pinioned

Stave 2

(adjective) – confined, shackled

They pinioned his arms behind his back so that he could not escape.

brawn

Stave 3

(noun) – jellied loaf made from parts of the head or feet of a pig

When the boys asked Aunt Agnes what was in the delicious dish,

they were horrified to discover that they had been eating brawn.

opulence

Stave 3

(adjective) – seeming to be abundantly wealthy or rich

In some parts of the city, great opulence can be found

side-by-side with near destitution.

declension

Stave 3

(noun) – a downward slope or bend

My soda can keeps rolling away from me and down the declension towards the sea.

odious

Stave 3

(adjective) – offensive

Washing pots and pans was an odious chore for her.

penitence

Stave 3

(noun) – a feeling or regret for sins committed

The sincerity of Judith’s penitence is questionable– she only began to express

remorse when Mr. Notestine refused to tear up her detention hour.

grog

Stave 3

(noun) – a drink, usually diluted, and made from rum

When the older relatives get together for the holidays, they drink lots

of grog; in the morning, they feel groggy!

whims

Stave 3

(noun) – impulsive or irrational thoughts

On a whim, we decided to stop at a road-stand stand and

buy a bushel of freshly-picked apples.

affront

Stave 3

(noun) – a deliberate insult

I hope that you did not take it as an affront when I said

that I did not need your help!

almshouse

Stave 3

(noun) – a poorhouse

Father worried that, if he lost his job, his family would

end up in the almshouse.

factious

Stave 3

(adjective) – causing strife within a group

Susan seems to enjoy her factious behavior, and delights in the

drama that she causes between her friends.

bereft

Stave 4

(adjective) – deprived; departed from, abandoned

Having never been outside of the country by herself, Carlin felt

bereft of her family as soon as she got off of the plain in Katmandu.

calico

Stave 4

(noun) – white or unbleached cotton with no printed design

The neighbors scoffed at the young woman who arrived

at the party in her calico dress.

detestation

Stave 4

(noun) – intense hatred

Little Charlie, the family’s pickiest eater, insisted that he could not

eat boiled cabbage because it was a particular detestation of his.

farthing

Stave 5

(noun) – an old British coin worth very little

I asked my boss for a raise, and he decided to give me one

additional farthing per month. This is worth less than a penny!