Vocab List 9: The Great Gatsby
1. Rout (n)- an overwhelming defeat
2. Reproach (v)- to find fault with; to blame; criticize
3. Obstinate (adj)- inflexible; stubborn; not yielding; adamant
4. Nebulous (adj)- hazy; vague; indistinct; confusing
5. Laudable (adj)- praiseworthy; commendable; honorable
6. Insidious (adj)- sneaky
7. Debauchery (n)- behavior one would see at a crazy party
8. Ingratiate (v)- to establish oneself in the favor or good graces of others by
deliberate effort (in a contrived way)
9. Perturb (v)- disturb; bother; annoy
10. Elusive (adj)- hard to express or define (concept); cleverly or skillfully
evasive (person)
11. Derange (v)- to disturb; to make insane
12. Surmise (v)- to guess; infer; conjecture
13. Elocution (n)- a person's manner of speaking in public
14. Ceaselessly (adv)- without stopping or pausing; incessantly
15. Forlorn (adj)- unhappy; miserable; lonely
Vocab Activity 9.1
 Using all the words on List 9, write sentences
that relate to literature from 9th-11th grade.
 Suggestions: Of Mice and Men, To Kill a
Mockingbird, Romeo & Juliet, Lord of the Flies,
Antigone, 12 Angry Men, short stories,
anything else you can think of.
 Or you can use anything we have read this
year, such as The Crucible, Into the Wild,
poems, speeches, etc.
Vocab List 9 Parts of Speech
1. Rout (n)
2. Reproach (v)  reproachful (adj); reproachfully (adv)
3. Obstinate (adj)  obstinately (adv); obstinacy (n)
4. Nebulous (adj)  nebulously (adv); nebulousness (n)
5. Laudable (adj)  laudably (adv); laudability (n)
6. Insidious (adj)  insidiously (adv); insidiousness (n)
7. Debauchery (n)  debauch (adj); debaucher (n)
8. Ingratiate (v)  ingratiation (n)
9. Perturb (v)  perturbation (n)
10. Elusive (adj)  elusively (adv); elusiveness (n)
11. Derange (v)  deranged (adj); derangement (n)
12. Surmise (v)  surmise (n)
13. Elocution (n)
14. Ceaselessly (adv)  cease (v); cessation (n)
15. Forlorn (adj)  forlornly (adv); forlornness (n)
Vocab Activity 9.2
 Using all the words on List 9, choose one of
the following options:
-Crime article about the domestic abuse
between Tom and Myrtle (Ch. 2), or the hit and
run in Ch. 7
-Break-up letter from Nick to his girlfriend back
home
-Love letter from Gatsby to Daisy
*Or come up with your own Gatsby-related
creative activity.
Crime Article
This just in – in the midst of a party full of debauchery in New York City last
week, a nebulous act of domestic abuse occurred, one where it is difficult
to figure out who to reproach. The formerly laudable Tom Buchanan, a
resident of East Egg and a Yale man known for routing others in college
football, is responsible for breaking the nose of a woman named Myrtle
Wilson, who hails from the forlorn Valley of Ashes. She is believed to be
his mistress.
Witnesses say that Myrtle obstinately and ceaselessly yelled out the name of
Tom’s wife, the well-known Louisville debutante, Daisy Buchanan.
According to onlookers, Mr. Buchanan was so perturbed that he savagely
punched Mrs. Wilson in the face, inciting bloodshed.
Though the couple has tried to be elusive and have insidiously carried on
with each other for about a year, it can now be surmised that “the cat is
out of the bag.” It is yet to be known if their significant others will request
a divorce.
Mr. Buchanan is believed to possibly be deranged and could face jail time in
spite of his well-executed elocution in his defense at the hearing
yesterday. It is said that Mr. Buchanan tried to ingratiate himself with the
female prosecuting attorney by flexing his muscles.
Vocab Activity 9.3
 Using all the words on List 9, write
sentences describing events in Gatsby or
Catcher thus far.