The Scarlet Letter Vocab Flashcards
Words from The Scarlet Letter to basically the rest of the year. (169 cards)
1
Q
Had there been a Papist among the crowd of Puritans, he might have seen in this beautiful woman, so picturesque in her attire and mien, and with the infant at her bosom, an object to remind him of the image of Divine Maternity, which so many illustrious painters have vied with one another to represent.
A
Demeanor; facial expression or attitude, especially one which is intended by its bearer.
2
Q
Of an impulsive and passionate nature, she had fortified herself to encounter the stings and venomous stabs of public contumely, wreaking itself in every variety of insult.
A
Offensive and abusive language or behaviour; scorn, insult.
3
Q
“What should ail me to harm this misbegotten and miserable babe?”
A
Born out of wedlock, illegitimate; (by extension) ill-conceived, bad, worthless [corresponding verb: “to beget,” meaning “to father,” and, by extension, “to produce or bring forth”]
4
Q
“Dost thou know me so little, Hester Prynne? Are my purposes wont to be so shallow?”
A
Accustomed to, used to, in the habit of (doing something) [“wont to be” here means, in effect, “customarily” or “usually”]
5
Q
Hester repelled the offered medicine, at the same time gazing with strongly marked apprehension into his face.
A
Anticipation, especially of unfavorable things such as dread or fear or the prospect of something unpleasant in the future.
6
Q
After her return to the prison, Hester Prynne was found to be in a state of nervous excitement that demanded constant watchfulness lest she should perpetrate violence on herself, or do some half-frenzied mischief to the poor babe.
A
For fear that; that not; in order to prevent something from happening; in case.
7
Q
“My old studies in alchemy,” observed he, “and my sojourn, for above a year past, among a people well versed in the kindly properties of simples, have made a better physician of me than many that claim the medical degree.”
A
A temporary stay somewhere
8
Q
“Thou hast kept the secret of thy paramour.”
A
An illicit lover
9
Q
On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore.
A
Imagination [corresponding verb: “to fancy” often means “to imagine or suppose”]
10
Q
Then she was supported by an unnatural tension of the nerves, and by all the combative energy of her character, which enabled her to convert the scene into a kind of lurid triumph.
A
Shocking, horrifying, especially when it comes to violence or sex
11
Q
As night approached, it proving impossible to quell her insubordination by rebuke or threats of punishment, Master Brackett, the jailer, thought fit to introduce a physician.
A
A harsh criticism. [corresponding verb: “to rebuke”]
12
Q
“I might have known that, as I came out of the vast and dismal forest, and entered this settlement of Christian men, the very first object to meet my eyes would be thyself, Hester Prynne, standing up, a statue of ignominy, before the people.”
A
Great dishonor, shame, or humiliation [corresponding adjective: ignominious]
13
Q
“As night approached, it proving impossible to quell her insubordination by rebuke or threats of punishment, Master Brackett, the jailer, thought fit to introduce a physician.”
A
Disobedience to authority [corresponding adjective: insubordinate]
14
Q
“I have thought of death,” said she,—“have wished for it,—would even have prayed for it, were it fit that such as I should pray for anything.”
A
Proper, suitable, fitting
15
Q
“I promise you, Mistress Prynne shall hereafter be more amenable to just authority than you may have found her heretofore.”
A
Willing to comply; easily led
16
Q
“Administer this draught, therefore, with thine own hand.”
A
(also spelled “draft”) A quantity of liquid drunk in one swallow; a dose (of alcohol, medicine, etc.)
17
Q
Without further expostulation or delay, Hester Prynne drained the cup, and, at the motion of the man of skill, seated herself on the bed where the child was sleeping.
A
The act of reasoning earnestly in order to dissuade or remonstrate. [corresponding verb: expostulate; you “expostulate with” someone to express disapproval and maybe change their mind]
18
Q
He drew the only chair which the room afforded, and took his own seat beside her.
A
To provide, supply, or offer, usually in a passive or natural manner
19
Q
“It may be,” he replied, “because I will not encounter the dishonor that besmirches the husband of a faithless woman.”
A
To tarnish something, especially someone’s reputation
20
Q
“Thou knowest,” said Hester,–for, depressed as she was, she could not endure this last quiet stab at the token of her shame,–“thou knowest that I was frank with thee. I felt no love, nor feigned any.”
A
To make a false show or pretence of; to counterfeit or simulate.
21
Q
“But, as for me, I come to the inquest with other senses than they possess.”
A
A formal investigation, often held before a jury, especially one into the cause of a death; An inquiry, typically into an undesired outcome
22
Q
A clump of scrubby trees, such as alone grew on the peninsula, did not so much conceal the cottage from view, as seem to denote that here was some object which would fain have been, or at least ought to be, concealed.
A
Gladly, with joy; by will or choice [usually in the construction “would fain,” meaning “would like” to be or do something]
23
Q
It was like nothing so much as the phantasmagoric play of the northern lights.
A
Characterized by or pertaining to rapid changes in light intensity and colour; Characterized by or pertaining to a dreamlike blurring of real and imaginary elements [corresponding noun: phantasmagoria]
24
Q
Her only real comfort was when the child lay in the placidity of sleep.
A
Peacefulness, calm, serenity [corresponding adjective: placid]
25
It could have *betokened* nothing short of the anticipated execution of some noted culprit, on whom the sentence of a legal tribunal had but confirmed the verdict of public sentiment.
To signify by some visible object; show by signs or tokens. To foreshow by present signs; indicate something future by that which is seen or known. [corresponding noun: "token," meaning sign or symbol]
26
Baby-linen--for babies then wore robes of state--afforded still another possibility of toil and *emolument*.
Payment for employment or an office; compensation for a job, which is usually monetary
27
She bore on her breast, in the curiously embroidered letter, a specimen of her delicate and imaginative skill, of which the dames of a court might gladly have *availed* themselves, to add the richer and more spiritual adornment of human ingenuity to their fabrics of silk and gold.
"to avail" means to be of use or to serve a given purpose effectively; the reflexive, "to avail oneself of" something, means to make use of something or turn it to one's advantage
28
It may seem marvellous, that this woman should still call that place her home, where, and where only, she must needs be the *type* of shame.
An ideal representation or embodiment of something; A symbol or emblem of something.
29
Vanity, it may be, chose to *mortify* itself, by putting on, for ceremonials of pomp and state, the garments that had been wrought by her sinful hands.
To discipline (one's body, appetites etc.) by suppressing desires; to practise abstinence on.
30
Dames of elevated rank, likewise, whose doors she entered in the way of her occupation, were accustomed to distil drops of bitterness into her heart; sometimes through that alchemy of quiet malice, by which women can concoct a subtile poison from ordinary *trifles*.
Anything that is of little importance or worth [corresponding verb: to trifle, "to trifle with" something means to treat it as if it were not important]
31
She was patient,—a martyr, indeed,—but she *forbore* to pray for her enemies; lest, in spite of her forgiving aspirations, the words of the blessing should stubbornly twist themselves into a curse.
past tense of "forbear": to refrain from doing something, to avoid doing something
32
Continually, and in a thousand other ways, did she feel the innumerable throbs of anguish that had been so cunningly *contrived* for her by the undying, the ever-active sentence of the Puritan tribunal.
To invent by an exercise of ingenuity; to devise [corresponding adjective: "contrived," meaning unnatural, forced, or artificial]
33
There dwelt, there trode the feet of one with whom she deemed herself connected in a union, that, unrecognized on earth, would bring them together before the bar of final judgment, and make that their marriage-altar, for a joint futurity of endless *retribution*.
Punishment inflicted in the spirit of moral outrage or personal vengeance.
34
Whenever that look appeared in her wild, bright, deeply black eyes, it invested her with a strange remoteness and *intangibility*; it was as if she were hovering in the air and might vanish, like a glimmering light that comes we know not whence, and goes we know not whither.
The state of being incapable of being perceived by the senses. [corresponding adjective: intangible]
35
Sometimes, the red infamy upon her breast would give a sympathetic throb as she passed near a *venerable* minister or magistrate.
Commanding respect because of age, dignity, character or position; Worthy of reverence. [corresponding verb: to venerate]
36
Often, nevertheless, more from *caprice* than necessity, she demanded to be taken up in arms, but was soon as imperious to be set down again, and frisked onward before Hester on the grassy pathway, with many a harmless trip and tumble.
An impulsive, seemingly unmotivated action, change of mind, or notion. [corresponding adjective: capricious]
37
We have as yet hardly spoken of the infant; that little creature, whose innocent life had sprung, by the *inscrutable* decree of Providence, a lively and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion.
Difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom, or interpret. [corresponding noun: inscrutability]
38
"I shall seek this man, as I have *sought* truth in books; as I have *sought* gold in alchemy."
"Sought" is the past tense of "to seek": to try to find, to search for, to try to acquire
39
Could they be other than the insidious whispers of the bad angel, who would fain have persuaded the struggling woman, as yet only half his victim, that the outward guise of purity was *but* a lie, and that, if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom besides Hester Prynne’s?
Only, merely, no more than [learn to recognize this adverbial usage of the common conjunction "but"]
40
But there is a fatality, a feeling so irresistible and inevitable that it has the force of doom, which almost *invariably* compels human beings to linger around and haunt, ghost-like, the spot where some great and marked event has given the color to their lifetime; and still the more irresistibly, the darker the tinge that saddens it.
Every time; always, without change.
41
She stood apart from moral interests, yet close beside them, like a ghost that revisits the familiar fireside, and can no longer make itself seen or felt; no more smile with the household joy, nor mourn with the kindred sorrow; or, should it succeed in manifesting its forbidden sympathy, awakening only terror and horrible *repugnance*.
Exteme aversion; repulsion [corresponding adjective: repugnant, meaning "repulsive, arousing disgust or aversion"]
42
"God gave me the child!" cried she. "He gave her, in *requital* of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness!--she is my torture, none the less!"
Compensation for damage or loss; amends. [corresponding verb: "to requite," meaning "to pay back or reciprocate"]
43
The pine trees, aged, black and solemn, and flinging groans and other melancholy utterances on the breeze , needed little transformation to figure as Puritan elders; the ugliest weeds of the garden were their children, whom Pearl *smote* down and uprooted, most unmercifully.
"Smote" is the past tense of "to smite": to hit or strike powerfully or violently (often used in the case of divine force)
44
Mother and daughter stood together in the same circle of *seclusion* from human society.
The state of being secluded or shut out, as from company, society, the world, etc.; solitude. [corresponding verb: to seclude]
45
Her ill-omened *physiognomy* seemed to cast a shadow over the cheerful newness of the house.
The face or countenance, with respect to the temper of the mind; particular configuration, cast, or expression of countenance, as denoting character.
46
The wide circumference of an elaborate ruff, beneath his gray beard, in the *antiquated* fashion of King James's reign, caused his head to look not a little like that of John the Baptist in a charger.
Old fashioned, out of date
47
Her needle work was seen on the ruff of the Governor; military men wore it on their scarfs, and the minister on his band; it decked the baby's little cap; it was shut up, to be mildewed and *moulder* away, in the coffins of the dead.
To decay or rot.
48
The young minister, on ceasing to speak, had withdrawn a few steps from the group, and stood with his face partially concealed in the heavy folds of the window-curtain; while the shadow of his figure, which the sunlight cast upon the floor, was tremulous with the *vehemence* of his appeal.
A wild or turbulent ferocity or fury. [corresponding adjective: vehement]
49
The young minister, on ceasing to speak, had withdrawn a few steps from the group, and stood with his face partially concealed in the heavy folds of the window-curtain; while the shadow of his figure, which the sunlight cast upon the floor, was *tremulous* with the vehemence of his appeal.
Trembling, quivering, or shaking.
50
Governor Bellingham, in a loose gown and easy cap, - such as elderly gentelmen loved to indue themselves with, in their domestic privacy, - walked formost, and appeared to be showing off his estate, and *expatiating* on his projected improvements.
"to expatiate": To write or speak at length; to be copious in argument or discussion. [the usual construction is "expatiate on" a subject, like in this example]
51
We have spoken of Pearl's rich and *luxuriant* beauty; a beauty that shone with deep and vivid tints; a bright complexion, eyes possessing intensity both of depth and glow, and hair already of a deep, glossy brown, and which, in after years, would be nearly akin to black.
Abundant in growth or detail. [corresponding noun: luxuriance]
52
By its perfect shape, its vigor, and its natural *dexterity* in the use of all its untried limbs, the infant was worthy to have been brought forth in Eden; worthy to have been left there, to be the plaything of the angels after the world's first parents were driven out.
Skill in performing tasks, especially with the hands. [corresponding adjective: dexterous]
53
It was wonderful, the vast variety of forms into which she threw her intellect, with no continuity, indeed, but darting up and dancing, always in a state of *preternatural* activity,—soon sinking down, as if exhausted by so rapid and feverish a tide of life,—and succeeded by other shapes of a similar wild energy.
Beyond or not conforming to what is natural or according to the regular course of things; strange.
54
This outward *mutability* indicated, and did not more than fairly express, the various properties of her inner life.
Changeability, tendency or inclination to change, evolve, or mutate. [corresponding adjective: mutable]
55
She came forth into the sunshine, which, falling on all alike, seemed, to her sick and *morbid* heart, as if meant for no other purpose than to reveal the scarlet letter on her breast.
Diseased or relating to disease; (by extension) Taking an interest in, or fixating on, unhealthy or unwholesome subjects, such as death, decay, disease. [corresponding noun: morbidity]
56
She could recognize her wild, desperate, defiant mood, the flightiness of her temper, and even some of the very cloud-shapes of gloom and *despondency* that had brooded in her heart.
The loss of hope or confidence; dejection; A feeling of depression. [corresponding adjective: despondent]
57
There was fire in her and throughout her; she seemed the *unpremeditated* offshoot of a passionate moment.
Not planned or thought out in advance (despite being performed or completed). [note: the positive (not negated) form "premeditated" is often used to describe crimes thought out or planned in advance]
58
At home, within and around her mother’s cottage, Pearl *wanted* not a wide and various circle of acquaintance.
In this usage, "to want" means to lack something; to be in need of or require something. [corresponding noun: want, e.g. "a want of sympathy" meaning "a lack of sympathy"]
59
Whenever that look appeared in her wild, bright, deeply black eyes, it *invested* her with a strange remoteness and intangibility; it was as if she were hovering in the air and might vanish, like a glimmering light, that comes we know not whence, and goes we know not whither.
"to invest," meaning to clothe, wrap, cover, envelop [often used in the construction "invest with" something]
60
It was inexpressibly sad—then what depth of sorrow to a mother, who felt in her own heart the cause!—to observe, in one so young, this constant recognition of an *adverse* world, and so fierce a training of the energies that were to make good her cause, in the contest that must ensue.
Antagonistic in purpose or effect; hostile; actively opposing one's interests or wishes; working in an opposing direction. [corresponding noun: adversity]
61
Her Pearl!—For *so* had Hester called her; not as a name expressive of her aspect, which had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre that would be indicated by the comparison.
In this way, like this, in that way, like that, thus
62
Closely following the jailer into the dismal apartment appeared that individual, of *singular* aspect, whose presence in the crowd had been of such deep interest to the wearer of the scarlet letter.
One of a kind, unique; (by extension) out of the ordinary, peculiar, curious [corresponding noun: singularity]
63
Pearl’s *aspect* was imbued with a spell of infinite variety; in this one child there were many children, comprehending the full scope between the wild-flower prettiness of a peasant-baby, and the pomp, in little, of an infant princess.
One's appearance or expression.
64
They seldom, it would appear, partook of the religious *zeal* that brought other emigrants across the Atlantic.
The fervour or tireless devotion for a person, cause, or ideal and determination in its furtherance; diligent enthusiasm; powerful interest.
65
They seldom, it would appear, *partook* of the religious zeal that brought other emigrants across the Atlantic.
Past tense of "to partake": to take a share in something, to participate in something
## Footnote
[usually in the construction "partake of" as seen here]
66
We have as yet hardly spoken of the infant; that little creature, whose innocent life had sprung, by the inscrutable decree of *Providence*, a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion.
The will of God, particularly as manifested in his careful governance and guidance of earthly affairs [corresponding adjective: providential]
67
But the *proprietor* appeared already to have relinquished as hopeless, the effort to perpetuate on this side of the Atlantic, in a hard soil, and amid the close struggle for subsistence, the native English taste for ornamental gardening.
An owner. [corresponding adjective: proprietary]
68
But the proprietor appeared already to have *relinquished* as hopeless, the effort to perpetuate on this side of the Atlantic, in a hard soil, and amid the close struggle for subsistence, the native English taste for ornamental gardening.
"to relinquish": to give something up, to let something go, to surrender something
69
"I might have known that, as I came out of the vast and *dismal* forest, and entered this settlement of Christian men, the very first object to meet my eyes would be thyself, Hester Prynne, standing up, a statue of ignominy, before the people."
Depressing, dreary, cheerless
70
Throughout them all, giving up her individuality, she would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of woman's *frailty* and sinful passion.
The quality of being weak or infirm, whether physically, mentally, or morally. [corresponding adjective: frail]
71
Luther, according to the scandal of his monkish enemies, was a brat of that hellish breed; nor was Pearl the only child to whom this *inauspicious* origin was assigned, among the New England Purtitans.
Ill-omened; unlucky; portending bad things. [note: the positive (not negated) form, "auspicious," means "of good omen, promising"]
72
And then what a happiness would it have been, could Hester Prynne have heard her clear, bird-like voice mingling with the uproar of other childish voices, and have distinguished and unravelled her own darling’s tones, amid all the entangled outcry of a group of ***sportive*** children!
Playful, lively [corresponding noun: sportiveness]
73
Hester Prynne, nevertheless, the lonely mother of this one child, ran little risk of *erring* on the side of undue severity.
"to err": to make a mistake (often with the sense of deviation or straying to one side) [corresponding noun: error]
74
Pearl's aspect was imbued with a spell of infinite variety; in this one child there were many children, comprehending the full scope between the wild-flower prettiness of a peasant-baby, and the *pomp*, in little, of an infant princess.
Show of magnificence and splendor, as in a parade. [corresponding adjective: pompous, which is almost always used negatively, to criticize pretentious grandeur or self-importance]
75
Certainly there was no physical defect. By its perfect shape, its *vigor*, and its natural dexterity in the use of all its untried limbs, the infant was worthy to have been brought forth in Eden.
Active strength or force of body or mind; capacity for exertion, physically, intellectually, or morally; energy. [corresponding adjective: vigorous]
76
What little bird of scarlet plumage may this be? *Methinks* I have seen just such figures, when the sun has been shining through a richly painted window, and tracing out the golden and crimson images across the floor.
(archaic) It seems to me [note: this word is NOT an old-fashioned way of saying "I think," as many people incorrectly assume]
77
The serf wore the blue coat, which was the customary *garb* of serving-men of that period, and long before, in the old hereditary halls of England.
Type of dress or clothing.
78
This purpose once effected, new interests would immediately spring up, and likewise a new purpose; dark, it is true, if not guilty, but of force enough to engage the full strength of his *faculties.*
plural of "faculty": An ability, power, or skill.
79
He looked now more careworn and *emaciated* than as we described him at the scene of Hester's public ignominy; and whether it were his failing health, or whatever the cause might be, his large dark eyes had a world of pain in their troubled and melancholy depth.
Thin or haggard, especially from hunger or disease.
80
Her imagination was somewhat affected, and, had she been of a softer moral and intellectual fibre, would have been *still* more so, by the strange and solitary anguish of her life
To an even greater degree; even. [learn to recognize this usage of "still" as an intensifier of comparatives, so that, e.g. "still more so" means "even more so"]
81
Under the appellation of Roger Chillingworth, the reader will remember, was hidden another name, which its former wearer had *resolved* should never more be spoken.
"to resolve": To make a firm decision to do something. [corresponding noun: resolution]
82
Old Roger Chillingworth, throughout life, had been calm in *temperament*, kindly, though not of warm affections, but never, and in all his relations with the world, a pure and upright man.
A person's usual manner of thinking, behaving, or reacting.
83
*Alas* for his own soul, if these were what he sought!
"alas" is an exclamatory interjection used to express sorrow, regret, compassion, or grief
84
By those best acquainted with his habits, the paleness of the young minister’s cheek was accounted for by his too earnest devotion to study, his scrupulous fulfilment of parochial duty, and, more than all, by the fasts and *vigils* of which he made a frequent practice, in order to keep the grossness of this earthly state from clogging and obscuring his spiritual lamp.
"vigil": An instance of keeping awake during normal sleeping hours, especially to keep watch or pray. [corresponding adjective: vigilant, meaning "watchful or alert."] [corresponding noun for the state of being vigilant: vigilance]
85
Therefore, so far as his duties would permit, he *trod* in the shadowy by-paths, and thus kept himself simple and childlike; coming forth, when occasion was, with a freshness, and fragrance, and dewy purity of thought, which, as many people said, affected them like the speech of an angel.
past-tense of "to tread": to step or walk (often on or upon something) [the past participle is "trodden"] [corresponding noun: tread]
86
He was small in stature, with a furrowed *visage* which as yet could hardly be termed aged.
A person's face or countenance.
87
"He hath done a wild thing *ere* now, this pious Master Dimmesdale, in the hot passion of his heart!"
(archaic) before
88
Then, after long search into the minister's dim interior, and turning over many precious materials, in the shape of high aspirations for the welfare of his race, warm love of souls, pure sentiments, natural ***piety***, strengthened by thought and study, and illuminated by revelation,—all of which invaluable gold was perhaps no better than rubbish to the seeker,—he would turn back.
Reverence and devotion to God. [corresponding adjective: pious]
89
Then, after long search into the minister's dim interior, and turning over many precious materials, in the shape of high aspirations for the welfare of his race, warm love of souls, pure sentiments, natural piety, strengthened by thought and study, and illuminated by revelation,—all of which *invaluable* gold was perhaps no better than rubbish to the seeker,—he would turn back.
Having great or incalculable value.
90
Beyond the shadow of a doubt, this venerable witch-lady had heard Mr. Dimmesdale’s outcry, and interpreted it, with its multitudinous echoes and reverberations, as the clamor of the fiends and night-hags, with whom she was well known to make *excursions* into the forest.
plural of "excursion": A brief recreational trip; a journey out of the usual way.
91
The public is *despotic* in its temper; it is capable of denying common justice when too strenuously demanded as a right; but quite as frequently it awards more than justice, when the appeal is made, as despots love to have it made, entirely to its generosity.
Of or pertaining to a tyrant. [corresponding noun: "despot," a ruler with absolute power] [corresponding noun: "despotism," rule by a despot]
92
Certainly, if the meteor kindled up the sky, and disclosed the earth, with an awfulness that ***admonished*** Hester Prynne and the clergyman of the day of judgment, then might Roger Chillingworth have passed with them for the arch-fiend, standing there, with a smile and scowl, to claim his own.
to rebuke someone for wrongdoing or warn someone against wrongdoing [here, "admonish of" means "warn about"] [corresponding noun: admonition]
93
Certainly, if the meteor kindled up the sky, and *disclosed* the earth, with an awfulness that admonished Hester Prynne and the clergyman of the day of judgment, then might Roger Chillingworth have passed with them for the arch-fiend, standing there, with a smile and scowl, to claim his own.
"to disclose": to reveal, expose, uncover [corresponding noun: disclosure]
94
An unvaried pall of cloud muffled the whole expanse of sky from *zenith* to horizon.
The point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; (by extension) The highest point, the peak
95
Nay; it would be sinful, in such a question, to follow the clew of *profane* philosophy.
Not sacred or holy; non-religious, secular. [corresponding noun: profanity] [corresponding verb: "to profane," to violate (something sacred)]
96
This feeble and most sensitive of spirits could do neither, yet continually did one thing or another, which interwined, in the same *inextricable* knot, the agony of heaven-defying guilt and vain repentance.
Impossible to untie or disentangle [related verb: "to extricate" something, meaning to free or disentangle something from something else]
97
"Why should not the guilty ones sooner avail themselves of this unutterable *solace*?"
Comfort or consolation in a time of loneliness or distress. [corresponding verb: "to solace" someone] [related verb: "to console" someone]
98
Poor, miserable man! what right had *infirmity* like his to burden itself with crime?
A physical or moral weakness or defect [corresponding adjective: infirm]
99
All were visible, but with a singularity of aspect that seemed to give another moral interpretation to the things of this world than they had ever *borne* before.
"borne" is the past participle of "to bear," meaning to carry something or, by extension, to endure something [e.g. he bears it, he bore it, he has borne it]
100
In such a case, it could only be the symptom of a highly disordered mental state, when a man, rendered morbidly self-contemplative by long, intense, and secret pain, had extended his egotism over the whole expanse of nature, until the *firmament* itself should appear no more than a fitting page for his soul’s history and fate!
The vault of the heavens, where the clouds, sun, moon, and stars can be seen; the heavens, the sky.
101
As the light drew nearer, he beheld, within its illuminated circle, his brother clergyman--or, to speak more accurately, his professional father, as well as highly valued friend,--the Reverend Mr. Wilson; who, as Mr. Dimmesdale now ***conjectured***, had been praying at the bedside of some dying man.
"to conjecture": to guess, to infer on slight evidence [corresponding noun: conjecture]
102
At all events, if it involved any secret information in regard to old Roger Chillingworth, it was in a tongue unknown to the *erudite* clergyman, and did but increase the bewilderment of his mind. The elvish child then laughed aloud.
Learned, scholarly, with emphasis on knowledge gained from books. [corresponding noun: erudition]
103
The belief was a favorite one with our forefathers, as betokening that their infant commonwealth was under a *celestial* guardianship of peculiar intimacy and strictness.
heavenly, of or related to heaven and the divine; relating to the sky or outer space
104
This morbid meddling of conscience with an immaterial matter betokened, it is to be feared, no genuine and steadfast *penitence*, but something doubtful, something that might be deeply wrong, beneath.
a feeling of regret or remorse for doing wrong or sinning [corresponding adjective: penitent, meaning "showing or feeling penitence"] [corresponding adjective: penitential, meaning "having to do with penitence"]
105
To their high mountain-peaks of faith and sactity he would have climbed, had not the tendency been thwarted by the burden, whatever it might be, of crime or *anguish*, beneath which it was his doom to totter.
Extreme pain, either of body or mind; excruciating distress. [corresponding adjective: anguished]
106
There can be, if I forebode *aright*, no power, short of the Divine mercy, to disclose, whether by uttered words, or by type or emblem, the secrets that may be buried with a human heart.
Rightly, correctly.
107
Their love for man, their zeal for God's service--these holy impulses may or may not coexist in their hearts with the evil inmates to which their guilt has unbarred the door, and which must needs ***propagate*** a hellish breed within them.
To generate, often in the sense of biological generation of offspring; to produce. [corresponding noun: propagation]
108
After a brief pause, the physician turned away. But, with what a wild look of wonder, joy, and horror! With what a ghastly *rapture*, as it were, too mighty to be expressed only by the eye and features.
Extreme pleasure, happiness, or excitement [corresponding adjective: rapturous]
109
Sometimes, a light glimmered out of the physician's eyes, burning blue and ominous, like the reflection of a furnace, or let us say like one of those gleams of *ghastly* fire that darted from Bunyan's awful door-way in the hill-side, and quivered on the pilgrim's face.
Like a ghost in appearance; death-like; pale; pallid; (by extension) horrifyingly shocking, extremely bad
110
Hester gazed after him a little while, looking with a half fantastic curiosity to see whether the tender grass of early spring would not be *blighted* beneath him and show the wavering track of his footsteps, sere and brown, across its cheerful verdure.
Past participle of "to blight," meaning to afflict with blight--that is, the yellowing, withering, and death of plant tissue. [by extension, "blighted" can mean ruined or spoiled] [corresponding noun: blight]
111
A mockery at which angels blushed and wept, while *fiends* rejoiced, with jeering laughter!
Plural of "fiend": a devil or demon; a malignant or diabolical being; an evil spirit. [corresponding adjective: fiendish]
112
She *upbraided* herself for the sentiment, but could not overcome or lessen it.
"to upbraid": To criticize severely.
113
There would have been no scandal, indeed, nor *peril* to the holy whiteness of the clergyman's good fame, had she visited him in his own study: where many a penitent, ere now, had confessed sins of perhaps as deep a dye as the one betokened by the scarlet letter.
Serious and immediate danger; Something that causes or presents such danger. [corresponding adjective: perilous]
114
I would have thee betake thyself to play, and leave me to speak with him that comes *yonder*.
(archaic) Over there.
115
Even the attractiveness of her person had undergone a similar change. It might be partly owing to the studied *austerity* of her dress, and partly to the lack of demonstration in her manners.
Freedom from adornment; plainness; severe simplicity. [corresponding adjective: austere]
116
There was a *listlessness* in his gait; as if he saw no reason for taking one step farther, nor felt any desire to do so, but would have been glad, could he be glad of anything, to fling himself down at the root of the nearest tree, and lie there passive forevermore.
The state of apathetic indifference or lethargy.
| [corresponding adjective: listless]
117
Attempting to do so, she thought of those long-past days, in a distant land, when he used to emerge at eventide from the seclusion of his study, and sit down in the fire-light of their home, and in the light of her *nuptial* smile.
Of or pertaining to wedding and marriage. [corresponding noun: "nuptials," meaning a wedding ceremony]
118
Or might it suffice him, that every wholesome growth should be converted into something *deleterious* and malignant at his touch?
Harmful, often in a subtle or unexpected way.
119
All these giant trees and boulders of granite seemed intent on making a mystery of the course of this small brook; fearing, perhaps, that, with its never-ceasing *loquacity*, it should whisper tales out of the heart of the old forest whence it flowed, or mirror its revelations on the smooth surface of a pool.
Talkativeness, especially of a very fluent or continuous kind [corresponding adjective: loquacious]
120
Thus, Hester Prynne, whose heart had lost its regular and healthy throb, wandered without a clew in the dark labyrinth of mind; now turned aside by an insurmountable *precipice*; now starting back from a deep chasm.
A very steep cliff. [corresponding adjective: precipitous]
121
None so self–devoted as Hester when *pestilence* stalked through the town.
Any epidemic disease that is highly contagious, infectious, virulent, and devastating. [corresponding adjective: pestilential]
122
He had told his hearers that he was altogether vile, a viler companion of the vilest, the worst of sinners, an abomination, a thing of unimaginable *iniquity*.
Deviation from what is right; gross injustice, sin, wickedness. [corresponding adjective: iniquitous]
123
"They mostly do," said the clergyman, griping hard at his breast, as if afflicted with an *importunate* throb of pain.
Persistent or pressing, often annoyingly so. [corresponding verb: "to importune," meaning to bother or irritate, especially with requests]
124
They grew out of his heart, and *typify*, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and which he had done better to confess during his lifetime.
To embody, exemplify; to represent by a form, image, model, or resemblance
125
“Yea, *forsooth*,” replied the bond-servant, staring with wide-open eyes at the scarlet letter, which, being a new-comer in the country, he had never before seen.
Indeed, really, truly.
126
It kept him down, on a level with the lowest; him, the man of *ethereal* attributes, whose voice the angles might else have listened to and answered!
Exceedingly light or airy; tenuous; spiritlike; characterized by extreme delicacy, as form, manner, thought, etc. [corresponding noun: "ether," the substance once thought to fill the heavens as the native element of gods, angels, etc.]
127
But that *perversity*, which all children have more or less of, and of which little Pearl had a tenfold protion, now, at the most inoppurtune moment, took through possession of her, and closed her lips, or impelled her to speak words amiss.
The state of being obstinately in the wrong, stubborn, or intractable. [corresponding adjective: perverse]
128
But that perversity, which all children have more or less of, and of which little Pearl had a tenfold protion, now, at the most inopportune moment, took through possession of her, and closed her lips, or *impelled* her to speak words amiss.
To drive forward; to propel an object, to provide an impetus for motion or action; to directly cause or drive someone to do something. [corresponding noun: impulse]
129
But that perversity, which all children have more or less of, and of which little Pearl had a tenfold protion, now, at the most inopportune moment, took through possession of her, and closed her lips, or impelled her to speak words *amiss*.
Wrongly, mistakenly
130
Her only justification lay in the fact, that she had been able to discern no method of rescuing him from a blacker ruin than had overwhelmed herself, except by *acquiescing* in Roger Chillingworth's scheme of disguise.
"to acquiesce": To agree upon being convinced; to assent to something, often reluctantly but giving up opposition. [usually in the construction "acquiesce in" something, as seen here] [corresponding noun: acquiescence]
131
Her only justification lay in the fact, that she had been able to *discern* no method of rescuing him from a blacker ruin than had overwhelmed herself, except by acquiescing in Roger Chillingworth's scheme of disguise.
"to discern": To see or make out using one's vision; (by extension) To perceive or recognize using one's mind; To distinguish or differentiate something from something else [corresponding adjective: discernible, meaning "able to be detected"] [corresponding noun: discernment, meaning "perceptiveness, judgment, ability to distinguish"]
132
Vanity, it may be, chose to mortify itself, by putting on, for ceremonials of pomp and state, the *garments* that had been wrought by her sinful hands.
Clothes [the singular, "garment," refers to a single article of clothing]
133
He had *striven* to put a cheat upon himself by making the avowal of a guilty conscience, but had gained only one other sin, and a self-acknowledged shame without the momentary relief of being self-deceived.
past participle of "to strive": To try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently. OR: To struggle in opposition. [simple past is "strove," e.g. "he strives," "he strove," "he has striven"]
134
Heretofore, the mother, while loving her child with the intensity of a sole affection, had schooled herself to hope for little other return than the waywardness of an April breeze; which spends its time in airy sport, and has its gusts of inexplicable passion, and is *petulant* in its best of moods, and chills ofterner than caresses you, when you take it to your bosom.
Childishly irritable or sulky [corresponding noun: petulance]
135
“There is no law, nor *reverence* for authority, no regard for human ordinances or opinions, right or wrong, mixed up with that child’s composition,” remarked he, as much to himself as to his companion.
Veneration; profound awe and respect, most commonly in a sacred context.
##Footnote
[corresponding verb: "to revere"] [corresponding adjective: "reverend," commanding reverence or respect] [corresponding adjective: "reverent," showing reverence or respect]
136
The child had a native grace which does not invariably coexist with faultless beauty; its attire, however simple, always impressed the beholder as if it were the very garb that precisely *became* it best.
"to become" can mean: to be proper for, to suit or be suitable for; when applied to clothing in this way, it often means "to look attractive on" somebody [corresponding adjective: "becoming," meaning suitable, appropriate to, or proper for, or, when applied to clothing, attractive]
137
The young clergyman, after a few hours of privacy, was ***sensible*** that the disorder of his nerves had hurried him into an unseemly outbreak of temper, which there had been nothing in the physician’s words to excuse or palliate.
(archaic) able to feel or perceive something; aware of something
## Footnote
[corresponding noun: sensibility] [corresponding negative adjective: insensible, meaning unfeeling or unable to feel or perceive something, sometimes with the meaning of "unconscious"]
138
The young clergyman, after a few hours of privacy, was sensible that the disorder of his nerves had hurried him into an **unseemly** outbreak of temper, which there had been nothing in the physician’s words to excuse or palliate.
Inappropriate or inconsistent with established standards of good form or taste.
139
Mr. Dimmsdale, whose sensibility of nerve often produced the effect of spiritual intuition, would become vaguely aware that something *inimical* to his peace had thrust itself into relation with him.
Unfriendly, hostile.
140
Calm, gentle, passionless, as he appeared, there was yet, we fear, a quiet depth of malice, hitherto *latent*, but active now, in this unfortunate old man, which led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy.
Existing or present but concealed or inactive. [corresponding noun: latency]
141
The unfortunate physician, while uttering these words, lifted his hands with a look of horror, as if he had beheld some frightful shape, which he could not recognize, ***usurping*** the place of his own image in a glass.
present participle of "to usurp": To take the place rightfully belonging to someone or something else. [corresponding noun: usurper]
142
In all seasons of *calamity*, indeed, whether general or of individuals, the outcast of society at once found her place.
An event resulting in great loss; disaster. [corresponding adjective: calamitous]
143
An unvaried *pall* of cloud muffled the whole expanse of sky from zenith to horizon.
Something that covers or surrounds like a cloak; in particular, a cloud of dust, smoke, etc., or a feeling of fear, gloom, or suspicion.
144
To-morrow would bring its own trial with it; so would the next day, and so would the next; each its own trial, and yet the very same that was now so *unutterably* grievous to be borne.
In a manner that cannot be expressed, described, or articulated; inexpressibly. [corresponding adjective: unutterable]
| unspeakably
145
“Nay, then, wear it, if it suit you better,” *rejoined* he. “A woman must needs follow her own fancy, touching the adornment of her person."
past tense of "to rejoin": to say in reply, especially as part of a back-and-forth, often wittily or in disagreement [corresponding noun: rejoinder]
146
He marvelled, indeed, at the violence with which he had thrust back the kind old man, when merely *proffering* the advice which it was his duty to bestow, and which the minister himself had expressly sought.
present participle of "to proffer": To offer for acceptance; to propose to give; to make a tender of. [corresponding noun: proffer]
147
He marvelled, indeed, at the violence with which he had thrust back the kind old man, when merely proffering the advice which it was his duty to *bestow*, and which the minister himself had expressly sought.
To impart (something) gratuitously; to present (something) to someone or something, especially as a gift or an honor; to confer, to give. [corresponding noun: bestowal]
148
Roger Chillingworth, however, was inclined to be hardly, if at all, less satisfied with the aspect of affairs, which Providence—using the avenger and his victim for its own purposes, and, *perchance*, pardoning where it seemed most to punish—had substituted for his black devices.
Perhaps, maybe [archaic synonym: peradventure]
149
And thus, while standing on the scaffold, in this vain show of *expiation*, Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mind.
An act of atonement for a sin or wrongdoing. [corresponding verb: to expiate]
| Repentance
150
So great a *vicissitude* in his life could not at once be received as real.
A change, especially in one's life or fortunes [corresponding adjective: vicissitudinous]
151
But there lay the embroidered letter, glittering like a lost jewel, which some ill-fated wanderer might pick up, and thenceforth be haunted by strange phantoms of guilt, sinkings of the heart, and *unaccountable* misfortune.
Inexplicable; unable to be accounted for or explained.
152
But in truth, as I have already told thee, children are not readily won to be familiar with me. They will not climb my knee, nor *prattle* in my ear, nor answer to my smile; but stand apart, and eye me strangely.
To speak incessantly and in an inconsequential or childish manner; to babble. [corresponding noun: prattle]
153
Since that wretched *epoch*, he had watched, with morbid zeal and minuteness, not his acts,—for those it was easy to arrange,—but each breath of emotion, and his every thought.
A particular period of history, or of a person's life, especially one considered noteworthy or remarkable. [corresponding adjective: epochal]
154
She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness; as vast, as intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest, amid the gloom of which they were now holding a *colloquy* that was to decide their fate.
A conversation or dialogue. [corresponding adjective: colloquial] [related noun: colloquialism, meaning "a colloquial word or phrase"]
155
The next day, however, being the Sabbath, he preached a discourse which was held to be the richest and most powerful, and the most *replete* with heavenly influences, that had ever proceeded from
his lips.
Abounding, gorged, filled to near the point of bursting [usually in the construction to be "replete with" something, as seen here]
156
"Were I an atheist,--a man *devoid* of conscience--a wretch with coarse and brutal instincts,--I might have found peace, long ere now."
Completely without or having none of. [usually in the construction to be "devoid of" something, as seen here]
157
"A bodily disease, which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some *ailment* in the spiritual part."
A disease; sickness. [corresponding verb: to ail, meaning "to cause to suffer, to afflict" (transitively) or "to be ill, to suffer" (intransitively)]
158
At the head of the social system, as the clergymen of that day stood, he was only the more *trammelled* by its regulations, its principles, and even its prejudices.
past participle of "to trammel": to confine, to hamper, to shackle [corresponding negated form: untrammeled]
159
The minister, on the other hand, had never gone through an experience calculated to lead him beyond the scope of generally received laws; although, in a single instance, he had so fearfully *transgressed* one of the most sacred of them.
past tense of "to transgress": To exceed or overstep some limit or boundary, especially a social norm or law. [corresponding noun: transgression] [corresponding adjective: transgressive] [corresponding noun: transgressor, meaning the person who transgresses]
160
But Pearl, not a whit startled at her mother’s threats, any more than *mollified* by her entreaties, now suddenly burst into a fit of passion, gesticulating violently, and throwing her small figure into the most extravagant contortions.
past participle of "to mollify": To appease (anger), to pacify, to gain the good will of. [elsewhere, "mollify" can also mean "To ease a burden, particularly worry; make less painful; to comfort."]
161
"Preach! Write! Act! Do anything, *save* to lie down and die!"
Except, with the exception of
162
But Pearl, not a *whit* startled at her mother’s threats, any more than mollified by her entreaties, now suddenly burst into a fit of passion, gesticulating violently, and throwing her small figure into the most extravagant contortions.
The smallest part or particle imaginable; an iota. [often used in negative constructions like the one seen here, "not a whit," etc.]
OR a little bit
163
"Of *penance*, I have had enough! Of penitence, there has been none!"
A voluntary self-imposed punishment for a sinful act or wrongdoing. It may be intended to serve as reparation for the act.
## Footnote
[corresponding verb: "to revere"] [corresponding adjective: "reverend," commanding reverence or respect] [corresponding adjective: "reverent," showing reverence or respect]
164
There glimmered the embroidered letter, with comfort in its unearthly ray. Elsewhere the token of sin, it was the taper of the sick-chamber. It had even thrown its gleam, in the sufferer’s hard ***extremity***, across the verge of time.
A condition of extreme adversity or difficulty
## Footnote
[extended from the basic sense of an "extremity" as the most extreme or furthest point or limit of something, whence we also get the medical term "extremities" to refer to our hands and feet]
165
There glimmered the embroidered letter, with comfort in its unearthly ray. Elsewhere the token of sin, it was the taper of the sick-chamber. It had even thrown its gleam, in the sufferer’s hard extremity, across the *verge* of time.
An edge or border. [corresponding verb: "to verge" on something, meaning to be or come very close to something, to border on something]
166
It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore; and which was of a splendor in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the *sumptuary* regulations of the colony.
Chiefly in sumptuary law: of a law, regulation, etc.: intended to limit or restrain the expenditure of citizens in apparel, food, furniture, etc.
167
“She hath good skill at her needle, that’s certain,” remarked one of her female spectators; “but did ever a woman, before this brazen *hussy*, contrive such a way of showing it! Why, gossips, what is it but to laugh in the faces of our godly magistrates, and make a pride out of what they, worthy gentlemen, meant for a punishment?”
A sexually immoral woman; a cheeky or disrespectful girl; a woman showing inappropriate or improper behavior.
168
"Tis most true, and he *beseeched* me to entreat your Majesties to hear and see the matter."
past tense of "to beseech": To beg or implore
169
“It was found,” said the sexton, “this morning, on the scaffold where evil-doers are set up to public shame. Satan dropped it there, I take it, intending a *scurrilous* jest against your reverence. But, indeed, he was blind and foolish, as he ever and always is. A pure hand needs no glove to cover it!”
(of a person) Given to vulgar verbal abuse; foul-mouthed.
(of language) Coarse, vulgar, abusive, or slanderous.
