Lord of the Flies Chapters 3 & 4 Vocabulary

Festooned (verb) Decorated “The tree trunks and the creepers that festooned them lost themselves in a green dusk thirty feet above him, and all about was the undergrowth.”

Oppressive (adjective) Very harsh or severe “The silence of the forest was more oppressive than the heat, and at this hour of the day there was not even the whine of insects.”

Furtive (adjective) Stealthy; sneaky “…and for a minute became less a hunter than a furtive thing, ape-like among the tangle of trees.”

Vicissitudes (noun) Difficulties or hardships beyond one’s control “Jack stood there, streaming with sweat, streaked with brown earth, stained by all the vicissitudes of a day’s hunting.”

Contrite (adjective) Grieving and sorry for sins or shortcomings “Simon’s contrite face appeared in the hole.”

Antagonism (noun) Hostility or anger “Now the antagonism was audible.”

Audible (adjective) Able to be heard “Now the antagonism was audible.”

Tacit (adjective) Understood without words “… and by tacit consent they left the shelter and went toward the bathing pool.”

Myriad (noun) A great number “Like a myriad of tiny teeth in a saw, the transparencies same scavenging over the beach.”

Taboo (adjective) A prohibition based on social custom “Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life.”