The Scarlet Letter Vocabulary

Part 1

Congenial Adjective Pleasant or agreeable “Before this ugly edifice…was a grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock…and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison” (46).

Inauspicious Adjective Not prosperous; unfavorable The Prison is referred to as the “inauspicious portal” at the start of the novel (46).

Ignominy Noun Public shame or disgrace “…her beauty shone out, and made a halo of misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped” (51). /watch?v=bXkV7390EWo

Caprice Noun A sudden, impulsive change; a whim “As to any other kind of discipline, whether addressed to her mind or heart, little Pearl might or might not be within its reach, in accordance with the caprice that ruled her at the moment” (84).

Gilded Adjective Covered thinly with a layer of gold (gold leaf or gold paint) “…we scatter gilded volumes on the center- table, to be turned over by the casual guest” (95).

Part 2

Odious Adjective Causing hatred or strong dislike “His gestures, his gait, his grizzled beard, his slightest and most indifferent acts, the very fashion of his garments, were odious in the clergyman’s sight…” (128).

Abstruse Adjective Difficult to understand; Obscure “There were scholars among them, who had spent more years in acquiring abstruse lore…” (128).

Celestial Adjective Of or relating to the sky or heavens “It was his custom, too, as it has been that of many other pious Puritans, to fast,--not, however, like them, in order to purify the body and render it the fitter medium of celestial illumination…but as an act of penance” (132).

Impalpable Adjective Unable to be felt by touch “To the untrue man, the whole universe is false,--it is impalpable,--it shrinks to nothing within his grasp” (133).

Erudite Adjective Learned or scholarly “…it was in a tongue unknown to the erudite clergyman, and did but increase the bewilderment of his mind” (142).