The Giver Vocabulary

Chapters 1-5

euphemism

• A nice way of saying something difficult.

• She passed away= she died; put to sleep

• Short-vertically challenged

• Prison- correctional facility

Rasping- harsh, grating

• The smoker’s voice became raspy after years of smoking

Apprehensive- fearful, anxious

• The child felt apprehensive when she went to her first day of school

Eager-impatiently waiting

• I was eager to graduate 8th grade

Distraught-upset, very agitatedI became distraught when I lost my

kid at Disneyland.

palpable- obvious, easily perceivedIt was palpable to the fans that the

boy was terrible at baseball.

Disposition- personalityThis lady had a happy, almost

weird, disposition.

Nurturing- helping to grow or develop

• The mother nurtured her child and the child grew to be a healthy adult.

• Elementary teachers are nurturing but middle school teachers are just plain mean.

Enhance- improve

• I lifted weights hoping to enhance my muscle tone.

Aptitude-talent

• Einstein had an aptitude for science.

• Beethoven had an aptitude for music.

Chastisement-punishment

• The teacher chastised me for not doing my homework.

• Chastisement happened to the boy who stole the teacher’s medicine.

Petulantly- in an ill tempered way, moody

• I petulantly cleaned my room after a fight with my mom.

Remorse- regret

• He felt remorse after he killed the dog.

Tabulated- recorded and filed

• I tabulated the scores and found that the average was a C+.

Primly-proper

• When I met the Queen of England, I primly sipped my tea., but my rude husband guzzled his beer.

Murky-unclear, dark

• The murky, smelly pond did not seem inviting.

Vague- unclear

• The setting of The Giver is vague; we’re not sure the time nor the place.

• The directions were vague, so I didn’t understand what to do.