As mentioned in previous posts, reading the classics is an excellent way to increase and test your vocabulary. Here are a few of the great words I took note of during a recent reading of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.
We'll begin with the obvious choice of the title words and, because there are so many different volumes, I will note chapters instead of page numbers for examples quoted from the book.
1. sense [sens] noun
sound practical intelligence:
He has no sense.
2. sensibility [sen-suh-bil-i-tee] noun, plural -ties.
capacity for sensation or feeling; responsiveness or susceptibility to sensory stimuli.
3. devolve [dih-volv] verb (used with object)
to transfer or delegate (a duty, responsibility, etc.) to or upon another; pass on.
"The son, a steady, respectable young man, was amply provided for by the fortune of his mother, which had been large, and half of which devolved on him on his coming of age." (ch. 1)
4. indecorous [in-dek-er-uhs, in-di-kawr-uhs, -kohr-] adjective
violating generally accepted standards of good taste or propriety; unseemly.
"...and he finally resolved, that it would be absolutely unnecessary, if not highly indecourous, to do more for the widow and children of his father, than such kind of neighborly acts as his own wife pointed out." (ch 2)
5. diffident [dif-i-duhnt] adjective
lacking confidence in one's own ability, worth, or fitness; timid; shy. Reserved in manner or conduct.
"He was too diffident to do justice to himself; but when his natural shyness was overcome, his behaviour gave every indication of an open, affectionate heart." (ch 3)
6. approbation [ap-ruh-bey-shuhn] noun
approval; commendation: official approval or sanction.
"Marianne was affraid of offending, and said no more on the subject; but the kind of approbation which Elinor described as excited in him by the drawings of other people, was far from the rapturous delight, which, in her opinion, could alone be called taste." (ch 4)
7. inquietude [in-kwahy-i-tood, -tyood] noun
restlessness or uneasiness; disquietude.
"A doubt of her regard, supposing him to feel it, need not give him more than inquietude." (ch 4)
8. incommode [in-kuh-mohd] verb (used with object), -mod•ed, -mod•ing.
to inconvenience or discomfort; disturb; trouble.
"No sooner was her answer dispatched, than Mrs Dashwood indulged herself in the pleasure of announcing to her son-in-law* and his wife that she was provided with a house, and should incomomde them no longer..." (ch 5)
(* son-in-law used here actually means stepson)
9. demesne [dih-meyn, -meen] noun
land belonging to and adjoining a manor house; estate.
"A small green court was the whole of its demesne in front; and a neat wicket gate admitted them into it." (ch 6)
10. unaffected [uhn-uh-fek-tid] adjective
1. free from affectation; sincere; genuine.
2. unpretentious, as a personality or literary style.
"The Miss Dashwoods were young, pretty, and unaffected." (ch 7)
11. raillery [rey-luh-ree] noun, plural -ler•ies.
good-humored ridicule; banter.
"Marianne was vexed at it for her sister's sake, and turned her eyes towards Elinor, to see how she bore these attacks, with an earnestness which gave Elinor far more pain than could arise from such common-place raillery as Mrs Jenning's." (ch 7)
12. insipid [in-sip-id] adjective
without distinctive, interesting, or stimulating qualities; vapid: an insipid personality.
"...but the cold insipidity of Lady Middleton was so particularly repulsive that in comparison of it the gravity of Colonel Brnadon, and even the boisterous mirth of Sir John and his mother-in-law, was interesting." (ch7)
13. exigence [ek-si-juhns] noun
1. The need, demand, or requirement intrinsic to a circumstance, condition, etc.:
the exigences of city life.
2. a case or situation that demands prompt action or remedy; emergency.
"One consolation, however, remained for them, to which the exigence of the moment gave more than usual propriety..." (ch 9)
These examples are from just the first 30 pages or so of the novel. Obviously, I could do an entire second post devoted to the vocabulary of this book—and I might do just that in the next few weeks.
Your turn: Pick any word from the list above and write your own sentence.
Read the Teaser Tuesday excerpt here.
"I quite agree with you," said the Duchess; "and the moral of that is—'Be what you would seem to be'—or, if you’d like it put more simply—'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'"
