THE GREAT GATSBY VOCABULARY

CHAPTER 1 Fractiousness: irritability Fractiousness: irritability “His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed.”

CHAPTER 1 Feigned: pretended/ Give a false appearance of Feigned: pretended/ Give a false appearance of “Most of the confidences were unsought--frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon--for the intimate revelations of young men or at least the terms in which they express them are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions.”

CHAPTER 1 Exempt: keep from obligation Exempt: keep from obligation I asked if I was exempt from the vocabulary test on Friday, Ms. Hewitt replied “no.”

CHAPTER 1 Bizarre: odd, grotesque Bizarre: odd, grotesque “I lived at West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them.”

CHAPTER 1 Bantering: playful teasing Bantering: playful teasing “Sometimes she and Miss Baker talked at once, unobtrusively and with a bantering inconsequence that was never quite chatter, that was as cool as their white dresses and their impersonal eyes in the absence of all desire.”

CHAPTER 1 Complacency: self-satisfied, smugness Complacency: self-satisfied, smugness “There was something pathetic in his concentration as if his complacency, more acute than of old, was not enough to him any more.”

CHAPTER 1 Intimation: hint/ an indirect suggestion Intimation: hint/ an indirect suggestion “But I didn't call to him for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone-- he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling.”

CHAPTER 2 desolate: lonely, forlorn desolate: lonely, forlorn I felt desolate after my last break-up.

CHAPTER 2 Supercilious: arrogant Supercilious: arrogant “Now he was a sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.”

CHAPTER 2 Contiguous: adjoining Contiguous: adjoining Alaska and Hawaii are not in the contiguous United States.

CHAPTER 2 Apathetic: indifferent Apathetic: indifferent “A reluctant elevator boy went for a box full of straw and some milk to which he added on his own initiative a tin of large hard dog biscuits--one of which decomposed apathetically in the saucer of milk all afternoon.”

CHAPTER 2 languid: listless, without vigor languid: listless, without vigor “His wife was shrill, languid, handsome and horrible.”

CHAPTER 2 hauteur: disdainful pride hauteur: disdainful pride “The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur.”

CHAPTER 3 prodigality: extravagance prodigality: extravagance “Laughter is easier, minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word”

CHAPTER 3 Vehemently: forcefully Vehemently: forcefully “As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host but the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way and denied so vehemently any knowledge of his movements that I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table--the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone.”

CHAPTER 3 Credulity: willing to believe Credulity: willing to believe “My incredulity was submerged in fascination now; it was like skimming hastily through a dozen magazines.”

CHAPTER 3 Cynical: skeptical of goodness and sincerity Cynical: skeptical of goodness and sincerity “I couldn't guess what Daisy and Tom were thinking but I doubt if even Miss Baker who seemed to have mastered a certain hardy skepticismwas able utterly to put this fifth guest's shrill metallic urgency out of mind.”

CHAPTER 3 Ascertain: to make sure Ascertain: to make sure “How can I trust you? I must ascertain on my own.”

CHAPTER 3 Convivial: sociable Convivial: sociable “When the "Jazz History of the World" was over girls were putting their heads on men's shoulders in a puppyish, convivial way, girls were swooning backward playfully into men's arms, even into groups knowing that some one would arrest their falls--but no one swooned backward on Gatsby and no French bob touched Gatsby's shoulder and no singing quartets were formed with Gatsby's head for one link.”

CHAPTER 3 Affectation: artificial behavior Affectation: artificial behavior The bored haughty face that she turned to the world concealed something--most affectations conceal something eventually, even though they don't in the beginning--and one day I found what it was.