brandishing
waving about in a threatening manner. ex) “Jack had him by the hair and was brandishing his knife.”
chasm
deep clefts or gores. ex) “He [Ralph] was surrounded on all sides by chasms of empty air.”
corpulent
with a large, bulky body. ex) “Then as the blue material of the parachute collapsed the corpulent figure would bow forward, sighing, and the flies settle once more.”
demure
modest. ex) “Each of them [Jack & Roger] wore the remains of a black cap and ages ago they had stood in two demure rows and their voices had been the song of angels.”
derision
ridicule. ex) “Piggy once more was the center of social derision so that everyone felt cheerful and normal.”
diffidently
with hesitation and respect. ex) “Diffidently, Simon allowed his pace to slacken until he was walking side by side with Ralph and looking up at him through the coarse black hair…”
fervor
intensity. ex) “If Jack was astonished by their fervor he did not show it.”
glowered
look angrily. ex) “Jack glowered.”
inarticulate
unable to speak. ex) “Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness.”
interspersed
interwoven; with something at intervals in between. ex) “Here there were wide spaces interspersed with thickets and huge trees and the rend of the ground led him up as the forest opened.”
jeeringly
mockingly. ex) “…remembering that first enthusiastic exploration as though it were part of a brighter childhood, he smiled jeeringly.”
lamentation
weeping, crying. ex) “At first he was a silent effigy of sorrow; but then the lamentation rose out of him.”
ludicrous
ridiculous, absurd. ex) “But Piggy, for all his ludicrous body, had brains.”
mutinously
rebelliously. ex) “Mutinously, the boys fell silent or muttering.”
sagely
wisely. ex) “Everybody agreed [with Ralph] sagely.”
sanctity
holiness; inviolability. ex) “The wood he fetched was close at hand, a fallen tree on the platform that they did not need for the assembly, yet to the others the sanctity of the platform had protected even what was useless there.”
succulent
juicy. ex) “The boys with the spit gave Ralph and Piggy each a succulent chunk [of meat].”
taboo
rule that makes something forbidden. ex) “I dunno, Ralph. I expect it’s him.” “Jack?” “Jack.” A taboo was evolving round that word too.”
embroiled
involved in conflict. ex) “Piggy, finding himself uncomfortably embroiled, slid the conch to Ralph’s knees and sat down.”
exulting
joyful. ex) “‘One heave,’ cried Jack, exulting, ‘and–whee–!” (Throwing down a boulder)
