TKaM Vocabulary
Using Context Clues to Select Appropriate Definitions
Directions: Use the definition bank to choose the appropriate definition for each underlined word.
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Definition Bank
(n) verbal denunciation characterized by harsh, often insulting language; a tirade
(n) foolhardy disregard of danger; recklessness
(n) a partiality or disposition in favor of something
(n) a state of extreme confusion or agitation; commotion or tumult
(n) departure from the normal or typical
(n) a massing together or clustering of independent but similar units, such as particles, parts, or bodies
1. The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predilection unforgiveable in Maycomb. (9)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
2. Mr. Avery said it was written on the Rosetta Stone that when children disobeyed their parents, smoked cigarettes and
made war on each other, the seasons would change: Jem and I were burdened with the guilt of contributing to the
aberrations of nature, thereby causing unhappiness to our neighbors and discomfort to ourselves. (63)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
3. I pulled at his sleeve, and we were followed up the sidewalk by a philippic on our family’s moral degeneration…
(102)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
4. “Entailments are bad,” I was advising him, when I slowly awoke to the fact that I was addressing the entire
aggregation. (154)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
5. “And so a quiet respectable, humble Negro who had the unmitigated temerity to ‘feel sorry’ for a white woman has
had to put his word against two white people’s.” (204)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
6. His age was beginning to show, his one sign of inner turmoil… (267)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
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Definition Bank
(adj) arousing fear, dread, or alarm; inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder
(adj) noisily and stubbornly defiant; aggressively boisterous
(adj) characterized by keen awareness, sharp intelligence, and often a sense of the practical; disposed
to artful and cunning practices; tricky
(adj) implied by or inferred from actions or statements
7. “Such conduct as yours required little understanding. It was obstreperous, disorderly and abusive – ” (85)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
8. …Aunt Alexandra’s was once an hour-glass figure. From any angle, it was formidable. (128)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
9. Jem went in grinning, and Calpurnia nodded tacit consent to having Dill in to supper. (208)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
10. He was shrewder than I, however… (280)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
Definition Bank
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(adj) utterly stupid or silly
(adj) marked by hot temper; easily provoked
(adj) not readily noticeable
(adj) lacking authenticity or validity in essence or origin; not genuine; false
(adj) given to contention; quarrelsome
11. “Ain’t got no mother,” was the answer, “and their paw’s right contentious.” (27)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
12. Lastly, we were to stay away from that house until we were invited there, we were not to play an asinine game he had
seen us playing or make fun of anybody on this street or in this town – (49)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
13. With these attributes, however, he would not remain as inconspicuous as we wished him to: that year, the school
buzzed with talk about him defending Tom Robinson, none of which was complimentary. (89)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
14. The rural children who could, usually brought clippings from what they called The Grit Paper, a publication spurious
in the eyes of Miss Gates, our teacher. (244)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
15. High above us in the darkness a solitary mocker poured out his repertoire in blissful unawareness of whose tree he sat
in, plunging from the shrill kee, kee of the sunflower bird to the irascible qua-ak of a bluejay, to the sad lament of
Poor Will, Poor Will, Poor Will. (255)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
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Definition Bank
(adv) marked by indignation
(adv) having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; impassive
(v) to make clear or plain, especially by explanation; clarify
(v) to discover with certainty, as through examination or experimentation
(v) to calm in temper or feeling; soothe
16. When the new wore off his grandfather’s watch, and carrying it became a day’s burdensome task, Jem no longer felt
the necessity of ascertaining the hour every five minutes. (61)
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
17. “Don’t you fret,” Calpurnia whispered to me, but the roses on her hat trembled indignantly.
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
18. We asked Miss Maudie to elucidate: she said Miss Stephanie seemed to know so much about the case she might as
well be called on to testify.
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
19. Mollified, Mayella gave Atticus a final terrified glance and said to Mr. Gilmer…
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________
20. “Doesn’t make it right,” said Jem stolidly. He beat his fist softly on his knee.
DEFINITION: _______________________________________________________________________________