To Kill a Mockingbird Vocabulary: Honors
Chapters 22-31
Directions: Read each word carefully as well as the way it is used in the sentence in the novel. Provide your
own definition and part of speech based on the context of the sentence. For more contextual clues, turn to the
page number given (accurate for blue, hard cover copies) and read the paragraph containing each word. Place
each of your answers in the correct columns. **Leave the last column blank. We will discuss and take notes
on the dictionary definitions in class. You will revise your context definitions and parts of speech (if necessary)
during this time in class.
Word
Chapter 22
1. feral – page 214
"Jem made a feral noise in his
throat."
2. ruefully – page 215
"Jem grinned ruefully."
3. heathen – page 216
" '...can't any Christian judges
an' lawyers make up for heathen
juries...' "
Chapter 23
4. wryly – page 218
"Atticus smiled wryly."
5. furtive – page 218, 255
" 'Something furtive,' Aunt
Alexandra said."
6. vehement – page 221
"I looked up and his face was
vehement."
Chapter 24
7. squalid – page 228
"...I heard Mrs. Grace
Merriweather giving a report in
the livingroom on the squalid
lives of the Mrunas..."
8. impertinence – page 230
"...decided that I meant no
impertinence..."
9. largo – page 232
" 'Nothing, Jean Louise,' she
said in stately largo..."
10. bovine – page 232
"...the soft bovine sounds of
ladies munching their dainties."
Context Definition
Part of
Speech
Dictionary Definition
Word
Chapter 25
11. scowling – page 238
"Jem was scowling."
12. veneer – page 240
"...but when it comes down to the
line the veneer's mighty thin."
Chapter 26
13. remorse – page 242
"I sometimes felt a twinge of
remorse, when passing by the
old place..."
14. recluse – page 242
"...what reasonable recluse
wants children peeping through
his shutters...?"
15. spurious – page 244
"...a publication spurious in the
eyes of Miss Gates, our teacher."
Chapter 27
16. notoriety – page 248
"I suppose his brief burst of fame
brought on a briefer burst of
industry, but his job lasted only
as long as his notoriety..."
17. nondescript – page 248
"...his fat nondescript dog."
18. purloined – page 252
“Miss Tutti was sure those
traveling fur sellers who came
through town two days ago had
purloined their furniture.”
Chapter 28
19. repertoire – page 254
"High above us in the darkness a
solitary mocker poured out his
repertoire..."
20. irascible – page 255
"...to the irascible qua-ack of a
bluejay..."
21. gait – page 255
"We had slowed to a cautious
gait..."
22. alleged– page 256
“…[we] were made to touch
several objects alleged to be
component parts of a human
being.”
Context Definition
Part of
Speech
Dictionary Definition
Word
23. rout – page 258
"...Colonel Maycomb set out on
a purposeful journey to rout the
enemy and entangles his troops
so far northwest in the forest
primeval...”
24. pinioned – page 262
"It's owner said, 'Uff!' and tried
to catch my arms, but they were
tightly pinioned."
25. staccato – page 263
"The man was walking with the
staccato steps of someone
carrying a load too heavy for
him.”
26. untrammeled – 266
“He liked to tell things his own
way, untrammeled by state or
defense, and sometimes it took
him a while.”
Chapter 29
27. reprimand – page 270
"...I pointed to the man I the
corner, but brought my arm
down quickly lest Atticus
reprimand me for pointing."
Chapter 30
28. blandly – page 271
"If Atticus could blandly
introduce me to Boo Radley at a
time like this..."
29. eluded – page 273
“A curious contest, the nature of
which eluded me, was
developing between my father
and the sheriff.”
30. connived – page 273
"...if I connived at something
like this, frankly I couldn't meet
his eye..."
Context Definition
Part of
Speech
Dictionary Definition