0512

Question 1

ostracism

Answer 1

You will face more hate and ridicule and ostracism that you can even begin to fathom.

os‧tra‧cize (also ostracise British English) /ˈɒstrəsaɪz $ ˈɑː-/ verb [transitive]
if a group of people ostracize someone, they refuse to accept them as a member of the group
She was afraid that if she spoke up her colleagues would ostracize her.
He was ostracized by the other students.

Question 2

fathom

Answer 2

to understand what something means after thinking about it carefully SYN work out
I still can’t fathom out what she meant.
fathom how/why/where etc
Mark couldn’t fathom why she resented him so much.

Question 3

limbo

Answer 3

Many colored people lived in this limbo, a true purgatory, always yearning for the white fathers who disowned them, and they could be horribly racist to one another as a result.

[singular, uncountable] a situation in which nothing happens or changes for a long period of time, and it is difficult to make decisions or know what to do, often because you are waiting for something else to happen first
be in limbo
I’m in limbo now until I know whether I’ve got the job.
limbo of
the limbo of his eight years in jail

Question 4

purgatory

Answer 4

[uncountable] something that makes you suffer – used humorously
Sewing is relaxation for some, purgatory for others.

Question 5

uppity

Answer 5

behaving as if you are more important than you really are, or not showing someone enough respect
uppity kids

Question 6

sink in

Answer 6

I was so happy that a girl had spoken to me that it didn’t fully sink in that they’ve stolen my bicycle.

if information, facts etc sink in, you gradually understand them or realize their full meaning
He paused a moment for his words to sink in.
The implications of Labour’s defeat were beginning to sink in.

Question 7

ringleader

Answer 7

Then one of them, the kid who was the ringleader of the group, walked over.

someone who leads a group that is doing something illegal or wrong
the ringleader of a new international drugs ring

Question 8

develop a thick skin

Answer 8

But that time I’d developed thick skin.

to not care if people criticize you or do not like you → thick-skinned

Question 9

startling

Answer 9

It wasn’t painful, just startling.
very unusual or surprising
Paddy’s words had a startling effect on the children.
a startling discovery
it is startling to do something
It is startling to read that his father never visited him in hospital.

Question 10

pelt

Answer 10

Then in a split second, before I could even react, all of these kids started pelting me with berries, pelting the shit out of me.

1 [transitive] to attack someone by throwing a lot of things at them