Dracula Vocabulary for Chapters 3-4
Betsy Williams
English-4
February 14, 2009
VOCABULARY CHAPTERS 3-4
Dracula
Part I: Using Prior Knowledge and Contextual Clues
Below are the sentences in which the vocabulary words appear in the text. Read the
sentence. Use any clues you can find in the sentence combined with your prior knowledge, and
write what you think the bolded words mean on the lines provided.
1. “…if he does himself all these menial offices, surely it is proof that there is no one else to do
them.”
Menial: undesired
______________________________________________________________________________
2. “Now, suppose I…wish to ship goods…to Newcastle, or Durham, or Harwich, or Dover,
might it not be that it could with more ease be done by consigning to one in these ports?”
consigning: committing
______________________________________________________________________________
3. “For a man who was never in the country, and who did not evidently do much in the way of
business, his knowledge and acumen were wonderful.”
Acumen: intelligence
______________________________________________________________________________
4. “The castle was built on the corner of a great rock, so that on three sides it was quite
impregnable.”
Impregnable: inaccessible
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. “All three had brilliant white teeth, that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous
lips.”
Voluptuous: full
______________________________________________________________________________
6. “I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waited – waited with a beating heart.”
Languorous: impatient
______________________________________________________________________________
7. “They took their hats off and made obeisance and many signs, which, however, I could not
Dracula Vocabulary for Chapters 3-4
Betsy Williams
English-4
February 14, 2009
understand any more than I could their spoken language…”
obeisance: hints
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. “This morning, as I was sitting on the edge of my bed cudgeling my brains, I heard without a
crack of whips and pounding and scraping of horses’ feet up the rocky path beyond the
courtyard.”
Cudgeling: working, stimulating, exercising
_____________________________________________________________________________
9. “I leaned back in the embrasure in a more comfortable position, so that I could enjoy myself
more fully in the aerial gamboling.”
Embrasure: a couch, chair or love seat type thing.
_____________________________________________________________________________
10. “Suddenly it struck me that this might be the moment and the means of my doom; I was to
be given to the wolves, and at my own instigation.”
Instigation: disposal
_____________________________________________________________________________
Part II: Determining the Meaning
Match the vocabulary words to their dictionary definitions
_C_ 1. menial
A. deliberate and intentional triggering of trouble or discord
_E_ 2. consigning
B. arising from or contributing to the satisfaction of sensual desires
_G_ 3. acumen
C. relating to work or a job regarded as for a servant
_H_ 4. impregnable
D. beating or striking as if with a heavy stick
_B_ 5. voluptuous
E. give over to the care of another; entrust
_F_ 6. languorous
F. lack of physical or mental energy; listlessness
_J_ 7. obeisance
G. quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgment or insight
_D_ 8. cudgeling
H. impossible to capture or enter by force
_I_ 9. embrasure
I. an opening in a thick wall for a window, often containing a bench
_A_ 10. Instigation
J. gesture, such as a curtsy, that expresses deference or respect