Left Hand of Darkness Vocabulary

Word	Definition	Know it well	Have heard of It	Don’t Know It
Chapter 1 Vocabulary        The Left Hand of Darkness
Phlegmatic	Having an unemotional and stolidly calm disposition.
Obdurate	Stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or course of action.
Pertinacious	Holding firmly to an opinion or a course of action.
Animosity	Strong hostility.
Genealogical	Have or relating to the study or tracing of lines of family descent.
Adventitious	Associated with something by chance rather than as an integral part.
Specious	Pleasing to the eye but deceptive.
Adroit	Clever or skillful in using the hands or mind.
Imposture	An instance of pretending to be someone else in order to device others.
Obviate	To anticipate and prevent or eliminate by effective measures; render unnecessary
Impugns	Dispute the truth, validity, or honesty of (a statement or motive)
Rufous	Reddish
Fulsome	Of large size or quantity.
Perfidy	Untrustworthiness
Chapter 3 Vocabulary
Augmented	To make larger; enlarge in size, number, strength, or extent; increase
Resolutely	Marked by firm determination.
Chapter 5 Vocabulary
Expunged	Erase or remove completely.
Ignoble	Of low birth or common origin
Hermaphrodite	An animal or plant having both male and female reproductive organs
Repertory	A place where something may be found
Abominations	A thing that causes disgust or hatred.
Erratic	Not even or regular in pattern or movement.
Encroached	Intrude on a person’s territory (or a thing considered to be right).
Aerie	A large nest of a bird of prey, especially an eagle, typically built high in tree or on a cliff.
Profuse	Pouring forth liberally
Prodigious	Remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree.
Extortion	The practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.
Elusive	Difficult to find, catch, or achieve.
Manifestation	An event, action, or object that clearly shows or embodies something, especially a theory or an abstract idea.
Intangible	Unable to be touched or grasped; not having physical presence.
Sauntering	Walk in a slow, relaxed manner, without hurry or effort.
Depilated	Remove the hair from.
Sully	Damage the purity or integrity of.
Dank	Disagreeably damp and typically cold.
Limpid	Clear and simple in style
Unfathomable	Of depth; not capable of being sounded or measured.
Quintessence	The most perfect or typical example of a quality or class.
Transients	A person who is staying.
Extempore	Spoken or done without preparation.
Subtle	Difficult to understand or perceive
Anarchic	With no controlling rules or principles to give order.
Fecund	Producing or capable of producing an abundance of offspring or new growth.
Dolmens	A megalithic tomb with a large flat stone laid on upright ones.
Augmenting	Make greater by adding.
Imperative	Of, relating to, or constituting the grammatical mood that expresses the will to influence the behavior of another
Integral	Necessary to make complete.
Chapter 6 Vocabulary
Bereft	Deprived of or lacking of something.
Thwart	To run counter to so as to effectively oppose or baffle
Indegent	Suffering from extreme poverty
Subversive	A systematic attempt to overthrow or undermine a government or political system by persons working secretly from within
Dour	Relentlessly sever, stern, or gloomy in manner or appearance.
Goad	Something that pains as if by pricking
Provocation	Action or speech that provokes someone.
Obscuration	To make dark, dim, or indistinct
Obfuscation	To make obscure
Circumambulating	Walking around something.
Chapter 7 Vocabulary
Estrus	Regularly recurrent state of sexual excitability during which the female of most mammals will accept the male and is capable of conceiving
Androgyne	Having the characteristics or nature of both male and female
Promiscuously	Characterized by or involving indiscriminate mingling or association, especially having sexual relations with a number of partners on a casual basis.
Indubitably	Too evident to be doubted
Slander	To utter slander against
Anomalous	Inconsistent with or deviating from what is usual, normal, or expected
Transcendent	Exceeding usual limits
Appalling	Inspiring horror, dismay, or disgust
Exculpate	To clear from alleged fault or guilt
Sublimate	To divert the expression of (an instinctual desire or impulse) from its unacceptable form to one that is considered more socially or culturally acceptable
Veneer	A thin sheet of a material
Ubiquitous	Existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time; omnipresent
Specious	Having deceptive attraction or allure
Chapter 8 Vocabulary
Xenophobic	One unduly fearful of what is foreign and especially of people of foreign origin
Revulsion	A strong pulling or drawing away
Inimical	Being adverse often by reason of hostility or malevolence
Vilification	The act of vilifying
Vituperation	Sustained and bitter railing and condemnation
Adulation	Excessive or slavish admiration or flattery
Anxiety	Painful or apprehensive uneasiness of mind usually over an impending or anticipated ill
Infallibly	Incapable of error
Meander	A winding path or course
Benign	Of a mild type or character that does not threaten health or life
Torpor	A state of mental and motor inactivity with partial or total insensibility
Conflagration	A large disastrous fire
Sinuous	Of a serpentine or wavy form
Choler	Ready disposition to irritation
Reticence	An instance of being reticent
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
Promulgated	To make (as a doctrine) known by open declaration
Condescension	Voluntary descent from one's rank or dignity in relations with an inferior
Deigning	To condescend reluctantly and with a strong sense of the affront to one's superiority that is involved
Cumbrous	Cumbersome, bothersome.
Exploitive	To utilize, especially for profit; turn to practical account
Chapter 9 Vocabulary
Umbrageous	Spotted with shadows
Involute	Curled spirally
Monolithic	Of, relating to, or resembling a monolith: huge, massive
Chapter 11 Vocabulary
Soliloquies	The act of talking to oneself
Blandishments	Something that tends to coax or cajole: allurement —often used in plural
Proselytizes	To recruit someone to join one's party, institution, or cause
Astute	Having or showing shrewdness and perspicacity
Faction	A party or group (as within a government) that is often contentious or self-seeking: clique
Suppressions	An act or instance of suppressing: the state of being suppressed
Conscience	The sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good
Inordinate	Exceeding reasonable limits
Obtuseness	Not quick or alert in perception, feeling, or intellect; not sensitive or observant; dull.
Arrogance	An attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions
Machinations	A scheming or crafty action or artful design intended to accomplish some usually evil end
Vengeance	Punishment inflicted in retaliation for an injury or offense
Blasphemous	Impiously irreverent: profane
Atheist	One who believes that there is no deity
Candor	Whiteness, brilliance
Obstreperous	Noisy and difficult to control.
Impudence	Qualities of being offensively bold.
Abase	Behave in a way as to belittle or degrade (someone).
Chapter 12 Vocabulary
Moraine	Accumulation of rocks deposited by a glacier.
Chapter 13 Vocabulary
Sycophants	Someone who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people.
Pallid	Pale, typically due to poor health.
Edifices	Large or massive structure.
Façade	The front of a building that looks onto a street or open space.
Veridical	Truthful.
Pandemonium	Very noisy place.
Erratic	Not even or regular in movement.
Furtive	Attempting to avoid notice or attention, typically because of guilt.
Fetid	Smelling extremely unpleasant.
Bovine	Oxlike; cowlike; Stolid; dull.
Incredulous	(Of a person or their manner) Unwilling or unable to believe something.
Meandering	Wander at random.
Reminiscences	Story told about a past event remembered by the narrator.
Chapter 14 Vocabulary
Perfidious	Deceitful and untrustworthy.
Vestigial	Forming a very small remnant of something that was once much larger or more noticeable.
Docile	Ready to accept control or instruction.
Peevish	Easily irritated.
Ascendance	State where one person has power over the other.
Aggrieved	Feeling resentment at having been unfairly treated.
Chapter 15 Vocabulary
Laconic	(Of a person, speech, or style of writing) using very few words.
Obdurate	Stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or course of action.
Abstraction	The quality of dealing with ideas rather than events.
Scrupulous	Thorough and very attentive to details.
Palliative	Relieving pain or alleviating a problem without dealing with the underlined cause.
Ecliptic	Great circle in which Earth follows to orbit the sun.
Aphelion	Point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid, or comet at which it is furthest from the sun.
Oviparous	Producing young by means of eggs that are hatched after they have been laid by the parent.
Peremptory	Not open to challenge; final.
Rending	Tear into two or more pieces.
Desolation	State of complete emptiness or destruction.
Chapter 16 Vocabulary
Scree	Long speech or piece of writing.
Fumaroles	Opening in or near a volcano, through which hot sulfurous gases emerge.
Effluent	Liquid waste or sewage discharged into a river or sea.
Lured	Tempt (a person or animal)
Iridescent	Displaying a play of lustrous colors like those of the rainbow.
Ethereally	Light, airy, or tenuous: an ethereal world created through the poetic imagination.
Smudge	A dirty mark or smear.
Chapter 18 Vocabulary
Susurrus	A soft murmuring or rustling sound; whisper.
Obstinate	Firmly or stubbornly adhering to one's purpose, opinion, etc.; not yielding to argument, persuasion, or entreaty.
Ambiance	A feeling or mood associated with a particular place, person, or thing
Invocation	The act of invoking or calling upon a deity, spirit, etc., for aid, protection, inspiration, or the like; supplication.
Assented	To agree or concur; subscribe to (often followed by to): to assent to a statement.
Analogy	A similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: the analogy between the heart and a pump.
Chapter 19 Vocabulary
Alacrity	Cheerful readiness, promptness, or willingness: We accepted the invitation with alacrity.
Zest	Keen relish; hearty enjoyment; gusto.
Contentious	Likely to cause disagreement or argument
Locutions	A particular form of expression; a word, phrase, expression, or idiom, especially as used by a particular person, group, etc.
Covertly	Concealed; secret; disguised.
Destitute	Without means of subsistence; lacking food, clothing, and shelter.
Revocation	Act of revoking; annulment.
Chapter 20 Vocabulary
Querulous	Full of complaints; complaining.
Abdication	The act or state of abdicating; renunciation.
Insurrection	An act or instance of rising in revolt, rebellion, or resistance against civil authority or an established government.
Resolution	The act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.
Precipitous	Extremely or impassably steep
Apprehensive	Uneasy or fearful about something that might happen
Impugning	To challenge as false (another's statements, motives, etc.); cast doubt upon.