Ms. Gokturk
Trends in Literature
The
Time Machine Vocabulary
Definitions are from the Merriam Webster Dictionary
Chapter I:
Expound: to explain by setting forth in careful and often elaborate detail
Recondite: hidden from sight : CONCEALED
Incandescent: strikingly bright, radiant, or clear or marked by brilliance especially of expression
Paradox: a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true
Fecundity: fruitful in offspring or vegetation : PROLIFIC
Pensive: musingly or dreamily thoughtful
Provincial: a person of local or restricted interests or outlook b : a person lacking urban polish or refinement; unsophisticated
Controvert: to engage in controversy
Infirmity: the condition of being feeble : FRAILTY
Intermittently: coming and going at intervals : not continuous
Accession: increase by something added
Threshold: gate
Anachronism: something out of place in time such as a calculator during cave men times
Spasmodic: acting or proceeding
fitfully : INTERMITTENT
Chapter II:
Ingenuity: skill or cleverness in devising or combining : INVENTIVENESS
Mutton: the flesh of a mature sheep used for food
Cadger: beg, sponge
Nebuchadnezzar: Chaldean king of
Caricature: exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics
Verbatim: in the exact words : word for word
Anecdote: a usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident
Lucid: having full use of one's faculties : SANE
Skepticism: an attitude of doubt or a disposition to incredulity either in general or toward a particular object
Deportment: the manner in which one conducts oneself : BEHAVIOR
Plausible: appearing worthy of belief
Speculate: to meditate on or ponder a subject
Jocular: characterized by jesting : PLAYFUL
Articulation: the act of giving utterance or expression
Exclamation: a sharp or sudden utterance
Chapter III:
Switchback: zigzag road
Solstice: either of two times in the year when the sun is furthest from earth
Imminent: ready to take place
Rudimentary: basic, elementary
Elusive: slippery, difficult to catch
Scaffold: a supporting framework
Palpitation: to beat rapidly and strongly : THROB
Luminous: emitting or reflecting usually steady, suffused, or glowing light
Fluctuate: to shift back and forth uncertainly
Poignant: deeply affecting : TOUCHING
Exhilarate: to make cheerful
Rudimentary: of a primitive kind
Attenuate: to lessen the amount, force, magnitude, or value of : WEAKEN
Chapter IV:
Futurity: time to come : FUTURE
Exquisite: marked by flawless craftsmanship or by beautiful, ingenious, delicate, or elaborate execution
Singularly: being out of the ordinary : UNUSUAL
Vivid: producing a strong or clear impression on the senses
Melodious: having a pleasing sweet or agreeable succession or arrangement of sounds
Sphinx: a winged female monster in Greek mythology having a woman's head and a lion's body and noted for killing anyone unable to answer its riddle b : an enigmatic or mysterious person <she is a sphinx whose features hold a blank fascination>
Temerity: overconfidence, foolhardiness
Parapet: a low wall or railing to protect the edge of a platform, roof, bridge
Fragile: delicate and breakable
Posterity: future generations, offspring
Dilapidated: decaying, shabby
Gesticulate: motion or signs when speaking especially
Edifice: BUILDING; especially : a large or massive structure
Portal: DOOR, ENTRANCE; especially : a grand or imposing one
Variegate: to diversify in external appearance especially with different colors
Dingy: DIRTY, DISCOLORED, SHABBY, And SQUALID
Chapter V:
Sloth: slow moving animal which
levies in trees in
Repugnance: extreme dislike, revulsion
Occidental: of European ancestry
Subterranean: underground
Indolent: lazy
Ramifications: consequences
Aristocracy: people at the highest land riches social level
Gibbous: marked by convexity or swelling
Complacency: self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies
Leprous: infected with leprosy b
: of, relating to, or resembling leprosy or a leper
2 : SCALY, SCURFY
Stanch: to stop or check in its cou
Dread: to fear greatly
Folly: lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight
Mockery: insulting or contemptuous action or speech : DERISION
Intervention: to occur, fall, or come between points of time or events
Inarticulate: uttered or formed without the definite articulations of intelligible speech
Monomania: mental illness especially when limited in expression to one idea or area of thought 2 : excessive concentration on a single object or idea
Degeneration: extreme decline
Chapter VI:
Manifest: easily understood or recognized by the mind : OBVIOUS
Pallid: deficient in color : WAN
Perplexity: the state of being perplexed : BEWILDERMENT
Lemur: any of various arboreal chiefly nocturnal mammals that were formerly widespread but are now largely confined to Madagascar, are related to the monkeys but are usually regarded as constituting a distinct superfamily (Lemuroidea), and usually have a muzzle like a fox, large eyes, very soft woolly fur, and a long furry tail
Clamber: to climb awkwardly (as by scrambling)
Vermin: small common pests that are difficult to control
Nemesis: formidable opponent
Aperture: an opening or open space : HOLE
Impenetrable: incapable of being penetrated or pierced b : inaccessible to knowledge, reason, or sympathy : IMPERVIOUS
Abysmal: having immense or fathomless extension downward, backward, or inward
Incontinent: lacking self-restraint (2) : not being under control b : unable to retain a bodily discharge (as urine) voluntarily
Grotesque: a style of decorative art characterized by fanciful or fantastic human and animal forms often interwoven with foliage or similar figures that may distort the natural into absurdity, ugliness, or caricature
Chapter VII:
Anguish: extreme pain, distress, or anxiety
Impede: to interfere with or slow the progress of
Malign: evil in nature, influence, or effect
Loathe: to dislike greatly and often with disgust or intolerance : DETEST
Incomprehensible: impossible to comprehend : UNINTELLIGIBLE
Wane: to decrease in size, extent, or degree : DWINDLE
Villainy: the quality or state of being villainous (evil, depraved, or vile character) : DEPRAVITY
Sufferance: patient endurance : LONG-SUFFERING 2 : PAIN, MISERY
Commend: to mention with approbation : PRAISE
Pinnacle: the
highest point of development or achievement : ACME
Imperceptible: unable to be detected or seen
Chapter VIII:
Gaunt: very think, hollow cheeked
Hypothesis: theory
Recede: move back
Mace: heavy spiked club used in Middle Ages to break through armor
Corrode: to weaken or destroy gradually : UNDERMMINE
Estuary: a water passage where the tide meets a river current;
Miscellaneous: having various traits
Oblique: not straightforward : INDIRECT; also : OBSCURE b : DEVIOUS, UNDERHANDED
Preoccupation: extreme or excessive concern with something
Transversely: acting, lying, or being across : set crosswise
Deliquesce: to dissolve or melt away to dissolve
Vestige: a trace, mark, or visible sign left by something (as an ancient city or a condition or practice) vanished or lost
Chapter IX:
Impending: to hover threateningly : MENACE
Insidious: awaiting a chance to entrap : TREACHEROUS
Camphor: a tough gummy volatile aromatic crystalline compound C10H16O obtained especially from the wood and bark of the camphor tree and used as a liniment and mild topical analgesic in medicine, as a plasticizer, and as an insect repellent;
Calamity: catastrophe, disaster
Atrocious: extremely wicked, brutal, or cruel : BARBARIC 2 : APPALLING, HORRIFYING
Foliage: cluster of leaves and plants in nature
Exultation: rejoicing
Fermentation: a chemical change with effervescence
Decadence: a period of decline
Adjacent: not distant : NEARBY. having a common endpoint or border
Bole: TRUNK
Slumberous: heavy with sleep : SLEEPY
Succulent: full of juice : JUICY b : moist and tasty
Chapter X:
Cupola: a rounded vault resting on a usually circular base and forming a roof or a ceiling b : a small structure built on top of a roof
Steadfast: firmly fixed in place : IMMOVABLE
Versatility: changing or fluctuating readily : VARIABLE
Disjointed: to disturb the orderly structure or arrangement of 2 : to take apart at the joints
Stave: to drive or thrust away
Tranquil: free from agitation of mind or spirit, calm
Meek: deficient in spirit and courage : SUBMISSIVE
Inclination: a tendency to a particular aspect, state, character, or action
Contrive: plan, devise
Abominable: quite disagreeable or unpleasant
Chapter XI:
Indefinite: not precise : VAGUE
Prodigious: exciting amazement or wonder or extraordinary in bulk, quantity, or degree : ENORMOUS
Extinction: the process of eliminating or reducing a conditioned response by not reinforcing it
Lichen: any of several skin diseases characterized by a papular eruption 2 : any of numerous complex thallophytic plants made up of an alga and a fungus growing in symbiotic association on a solid surface (as a rock)
Perpetual: continuing forever
Incrustation: a crust or hard coating b : a growth or accumulation (as of habits, opinions, or customs) resembling a crust
Lurid: wan and ghastly pale in appearance
Apparition: an unusual or unexpected sight : PHENOMENON b : a ghostly figure
Undulate: to rise and fall in volume, pitch, or cadence
Chapter XII:
Succession: the act or process of following in order : SEQUENCE
Speculate: to meditate on or ponder a subject
Translucent: permitting the passage of light
Gaudy: ostentatiously or tastelessly ornamented 2 : marked by dazzling brilliance, showiness, or extravagance
Substantial: consisting of or relating to substance b : not imaginary or illusory : REAL, TRUE
Reminiscence: recall to mind of a long-forgotten experience or fact
Meddle: to interest oneself in what is not one's concern : interfere without right or propriety