English 11 Short Story Vocab

“Story of an Hour”

  1. aquiver– vibrating or quivering
  2. tumultuous- wild; uproarious
  3. elusive – hard to get a grasp on; sly
  4. imploring– beseeching; begging
  5. importunities – persistent requests
  6. unwitting - unaware
  7. composed - calm
  8. elixir – fragrant potion often thought to be magical
  9. exalt – to put up on high
  10. afflicted – suffering from; affect by
  11. bespoke – indicate or show evidence of
  12. forestall – to prevent by taking action first

“Sinking House”

  1. escrow - a deed, bond, money, or piece of property held in trust by a third party to be turned over to the grantee only upon fulfillment of a condition
  2. grimace - frown
  3. Rorschach – psychological ink blot test
  4. stupefaction – state of being stunned or astonished
  5. innocuous - harmless
  6. pertinacity – determined persistency

“Wagner Matinee”

19. seething – very agitated

20. obliquely – in a slanting manner

21. interminably - endlessly

22. deluge –a flood

23. gaunt – lean and haggard

24. refuse – n- waste material; trash

25. callow – immature; inexperienced

26. reproach – to show disapproval to

27. inert – unable to move

28. ebb – v/n – to recede from shore; to diminish/ the tidal movement away from shore

29. aloofness – state of being separate, uninvolved, even unconcerned

30. haggard – exhausted looking

31. throng – a mass of people

32. conjure – to invoke supernatural forces

“I Stand Here Ironing”

33. tenancy (pg. 1, 1st col.) - occupancy

34. homely (pg. 1, 1st col.) – unattractive

35. somber (pg. 1, 2nd col. 2) – serious and melancholy; dark and gloomy

36. rouse (pg. 1, 2nd col. 2) – wake; to shake someone out of apathy

37. glib (pg. 2, col. 1) superficial; fluent or quick but in a insincere way

38. preen (pg. 2, col. 2) – to care excessively for one’s personal appearance

39. anonymity (pg. 3) – state of being unnoticed; lack of distinctiveness

40. eddy (pg. 3) –to flow against the current