American Literature
The Great Gatsby Vocabulary List #5 Chapters 7-9
1. harrowing (120) 114
adj. extremely disturbing or distressing; grievous
Syn: torturous; tormenting; excruciating
Ant: gratifying; pleasing
And yet I couldn’t believe that they would choose this occasion for a scene – especially for the rather
harrowing scene that Gatsby had outlined in the garden.
2. relinquish (123) 117
verb (tr) to renounce or surrender (a possession, right, etc.)
Syn: cede; hand over; forfeit
Ant: keep; withhold; secure
The child, relinquished by the nurse, rushed across the room and rooted shyly into her mother’s dress.
3. tentative (128) 121
adj. done as a trial or experiment; uncertain; hesitant
Syn: conditional; uncertain; iffy
Ant: definite; basic; unquestionable
Jordan and Tom and I got into the front seat of Gatsby’s car, tom pushed the unfamiliar gearstentatively, and
we shot off into the oppressive heat, leaving them out of sight behind.
4. prig (137) 131
n. smugly, well-behaved person; takes pride in being proper
Syn: snob
Ant: bumpkin; yokel
His transition from libertine to prig was so complete.
5. vicarious (138) 131
adj. obtained or undergone through sympathetic
participation in another’s experiences
Syn: surrogate, substitute, by proxy
…but Tom and Gatsby insisted with competitive firmness that we remain – as though neither of them had
anything to conceal and it would be a privilege to partake vicariously of their emotions.
6. tangible (142) 135
adj. discernible by the touch; material or substantial; actual not
imaginary
Syn: tactile; real; touchable
Ant: intangible; imaginary
…with every word she was drawing further and further rinto herself, so he gave that up, and only the dead
dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling
unhappily, undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the room.
7. magnanimous (142) 136
adj. free from petty resentfulness or vindictiveness; having
a dignified and generous nature
Syn: greathearted; sublime
Ant: stingy; offensive
She looked at Tom , alarmed now, but he insisted with magnanimous scorn.
8. expostulation (146) 139
n. earnest and kindly protest
Syn: remonstrance; challenge
Ant: acceptance; compliance
The circle closed up again with a running murmur of expostulation; it was a minute before I could see
anything at all.
9. truculent (148) 141
adj. fierce; cruel; vitriolic; scathing
Syn: aggressive; militant
Ant: conciliatory; pleasant
…but the policeman caught something in the tone and looked over with truculent eyes.
10. vigil (153) 146
n. an act or period of watching or surveillance; keeping watch
Syn: surveillance; watch; observation
He put his hands in his coat pockets and turned back eagerly to his scrutiny of the house, as though my
presence marred the sacredness of the vigil.
11. malice (155) 148
n. desire to cause pain, injury, or distress to another; ill-will
Syn: spite; viciousness
Ant: amity; hospitality; veneration
…told it to me because “Jay Gatsby” had broken up like glass against Tom’s hard malice, and the long secret
extravaganza was played out…
12. benediction (160) 153
n. the invocation of a blessing; something that promotes goodness
Syn: prayer; supplication
Ant: curse; malediction
The track curved and now it was going away from the sun, which as it sank lower, seemed to spread in
benediction over the vanishing city where she had drawn her breath.
13. garrulous (163) 156
adj. pointlessly or annoyingly talkative; wordy
Syn: communicative; verbose
Ant: reserved; tight-lipped
I supposed ther’d be a curious crowd around there all day with little boys searching for dark spots in the dust,
and some garrulous man telling over and over what had happened…
14. fortuitous (169) 162
adj. occurring by chance; fortunate or lucky
Syn: opportune; favorable
Ant: inopportune
A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously
about…like that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees.
15. provincial (188) 181
adj. a person lacking urban polish or refinement
Syn: small-minded; parochial
Ant: broad-minded; cosmopolitan; urbane
Then he went into the jewelry store to buy a pearl necklace – or perhaps only a pair of cuff buttons – rid of my
provincial squeamishness forever.
16. rasping (188) 181
adj. to utter in a grating tone or sound; to irritate
Syn: grating; husky
Ant: soothing; mellifluent
…and I erased it, drawing my shoe raspingly along the stone…
17. pander (189) 182
n. someone who caters to or exploits the weaknesses of
others; a go-between in love intrigues
18. transitory (189) 182
adj. of brief duration : temporary
Syn: fleeting; short-lived
Ant: permanent; everlasting; eternal
19. commensurate (189) 182
n. equal in measure or extent; proportionate
Syn: balanced; comparable
Ant: disproportionate
20. obscure (189) 182
adj. not readily understood or clearly expressed; relatively
unknown; not clearly seen or easily distinguished
Syn: mysterious; rare
Ant: obvious; clear; accessible
Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had one pandered in whispers to the last
and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the
presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face
to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.
He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail
to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the
city….