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Vocabulary Words To Know in The

Pearl
What Do These Terms Mean?

by Esther Lombardi
Updated August 07, 2017

Although short, The Pearl by John Steinbeck can be a challenging read. A great way to
expand your vocabulary is to read a book with words that you don't know yet. In that
way, reading The Pearl can be a helpful exercise. Here's a vocabulary list from John
Steinbeck by chapter.

CHAPTER 1

avarice - greed

bougainvillea - a type of tropical flower

consolation - to comfort

detachment - lack of concern or attachment

indigent - poor; impoverished

lymphatic - tissue where white blood cells are produced

scandal - shameful

ulcers - open sores

CHAPTER 2

bulwark - defensive wall

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estuary - river meets sea tide

gloating - prideful; bragging

incandescence - giving off light

lateen - sail (triangle)

poultice - an herbal application for the purpose of healing or remedy

telescopically - slide within one another; like a telescope

CHAPTER 3

ALMSGIVING - GIVING MONEY TO THE POOR

ammonia - colorless gas with a characteristic pungent odour

consecrated - sacred

cozened - trickery; misleading

disparagement - insult

dissembling - misleading

furtive - secretive

judicious - to exercise good judgment; sound thinking

lucent - softly bright; radiant

precipitated - hurled; cause to move suddenly

subjugation - forced submission; conquer

transfigured - idealize; metamorphosis

CHAPTER 4

APPRAISER - ONE WHO ESTIMATES WORTH OR VALUE

contemptuous - scorn or disdain

countenanced - tolerated
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crafty - clever

freshet - freshwater stream (flowing into the sea)

legerdemain - magic

lethargy - tired; weak

tules - weaving material

CHAPTER 5

EDIFICE - BUILDING OR STRUCTURE

exhilaration - glad; joyful

leprosy - chronic granulomatous communicable disease

skirled - a shrill call

stifling - smothering; suffocating; to take away breath or restrict

CHAPTER 6

APPREHENSIVELY - FEARFUL

cleft - split

escarpment - a long, steep slope or cliff; declivity

intercession - intervention; protection; mediation

malignant - dangerous; harmful; tumorous; deadly

monolithic - huge; imposing

monotonously - boring; without variation

outcroppings - layers of rock

threshed - beat; whipped

CITE

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