The Giver Vocabulary
Chapters 1-5
euphemism
• A nice way of saying something difficult.
• She passed away= she died; put to sleep
• Short-vertically challenged
• Prison- correctional facility
Rasping- harsh, grating
• The smoker’s voice became raspy after
years of smoking
Apprehensive- fearful, anxious
• The child felt apprehensive when she went
to her first day of school
Eager-impatiently waiting
• I was eager to
graduate 8th grade
Distraught-upset, very agitated
I became distraught when I lost my
kid at Disneyland.
palpable- obvious, easily perceived
It was palpable to the fans that the
boy was terrible at baseball.
Disposition- personality
This lady had a happy, almost
weird, disposition.
Nurturing- helping to grow or
develop
• The mother nurtured her child and the
child grew to be a healthy adult.
• Elementary teachers are nurturing but
middle school teachers are just plain
mean.
Enhance- improve
• I lifted weights hoping to enhance my
muscle tone.
Aptitude-talent
• Einstein had an aptitude for science.
• Beethoven had an aptitude for music.
Chastisement-punishment
• The teacher chastised
me for not doing my
homework.
• Chastisement
happened to the boy
who stole the
teacher’s medicine.
Petulantly- in an ill tempered way,
moody
• I petulantly cleaned
my room after a fight
with my mom.
Remorse- regret
• He felt remorse
after he killed the
dog.
Tabulated- recorded and filed
• I tabulated the scores
and found that the
average was a C+.
Primly-proper
• When I met the
Queen of England, I
primly sipped my tea.,
but my rude husband
guzzled his beer.
Murky-unclear, dark
• The murky, smelly
pond did not seem
inviting.
Vague- unclear
• The setting of The
Giver is vague; we’re
not sure the time nor
the place.
• The directions were
vague, so I didn’t
understand what to
do.