Vocabulary Words
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All the King's Men Vocabulary Words:

Chapter One

Camaraderie – a spirit of friendly good-fellowship

Imperiously – higher in rank

Oleaginous – Oily

Rubiginous – rust-colored; reddish-brown; variant form: rubiginose

Ruminatively – repeatedly; source: to chew the cud (re-chew)

Chapter Two

Reprobation – the act of condemning strongly as unworthy, unacceptable, or evil

Cocklebur – A genus of prickly plants; in this case it is referring to the deep country vote

Mastodon - any of numerous extinct mammals that differ from the related mammoths and existing elephants chiefly in the form of the molar teeth

Cloying - disgusting or distasteful by reason of excess

Implacable - not capable of being appeased, significantly changed, or mitigated

Levity – lightness, from the word levis which means “light in weight;” someone may say something to you with great levity if they are relaxed and happy.

Vindictive - intended to cause anguish or hurt; spiteful

Punctilious - marked by/concerned about precise accordance with the details of codes or conventions, careful

Immitigable – Not capable of being mitigated (mitigated means softened, or made less harsh, so it basically means unable to be made kinder or softer.)

Pundit - one who gives opinions in an authoritative manner; critic

Supercilious - coolly and patronizingly haughty; proud

Chapter Three

Aperture - an opening or open space; hole (Jack describes the Young Executive’s mouth as an aperture)

Renege - to go back on a promise or commitment

Epochs – An era in time

Whimsey – the state of being fanciful or capricious (sudden, impulsive)

Chapter Four

Peruse - to read over in an attentive or leisurely manner

Begrudged - to give or concede reluctantly or with displeasure; to look upon with disapproval

Hobbledehoy - an awkward gawky youth

Taciturnity - temperamentally disinclined to talk, silence

Cupidity – strong desire, lust

Boon – “boon companions;” relating to, occupied with, or fond of feasting, drinking, and good company

Preternaturally - exceeding what is natural or regular, exceptionally

Paroxysm - a sudden violent emotion or action (violent meaning strong, not necessarily vengeful)

Somnambulist – an abnormal condition of sleep in which motor acts (as walking) are performed (sleepwalking) (used in the sense that the person is acting as if in a stupor or daze)

Temporize - to act to suit the time or occasion, yield to current or dominant opinion

Expiation – act of reconciliation

Chapter Five

Detritus – product of disintegration or wearing-away

Querulous – Fretful, complaining, petulant

Erstwhile – in the past, formerly

Marmoreal – resembling a marble statue

Chapter Six

Garrulous - given to prosy, rambling, or tedious loquacity; pointlessly or annoyingly talkative; also refers to a “wordy” speech

Fallacy – an often-plausible argument using false or invalid inference

Navvy – an unskilled laborer; Etymology: by shortening & alteration from navigator construction worker on a canal; someone that works tirelessly

Affidavit - a sworn statement in writing made especially under oath or on affirmation before an authorized magistrate or officer

Hyacinth - a showy floating aquatic plant (Eichhornia crassipes of the family Pontederiaceae) of tropical America that often clogs waterways (as in the southern U.S.)

Myth: Mythology says that Hyacinth was a boy whom was loved by the god Apollo. While playing a game, Hyacinth ran to catch a discus, but it struck him on the head and killed him. Due to Apollo, a flower sprang from his bleeding head and became his namesake. The hyacinth was brought to England from Turkey in the mid-1500's. In the Victorian language of flowers hyacinth means sport or play, and the blue hyacinth is a symbol of sincerity.

Candid (ly) - free from bias, prejudice, or malice

Svengali – (allusion) - Etymology: Svengali, maleficent hypnotist in the novel Trilby (1894) by George du Maurier; Definition: one who attempts usually with evil intentions to persuade or force another to do his bidding

Mirate – colloquial lauage. It's kind of like when he says: ad hominem shore is useful...it's just bad spelling to emphasize local dialect...figured out from context and a bunch of clicking around that he's trying to say: "migrate" or something to that effect

Spavined - old and decrepit

Medusa – a mortal Gorgon who is slain when decapitated by Perseus

Epithets - disparaging or abusive words or phrases

Chapter Seven

Bilious - of or indicative of a peevish ill-natured disposition

Visceral – dealing with crude or elemental emotions; viscous means an organ in the deep cavity of the body, and both viscera and heart are it’s plural forms

Pensively - musingly or dreamily thoughtful

Hassocks - a cushion for kneeling

Supine - rotation of the forearm and hand so that the palm faces forward or upward and the radius lies parallel to the ulna (for those of us without PhD’s, that means if you take your hands and rest them on your lap, palms up, and let you arms go loose, you would be in a supine position )

Stereoscope - an optical instrument with two eyeglasses for helping the observer to combine the images of two pictures taken from points of view a little way apart and thus to get the effect of solidity or depth; similar to the modern day View-Masters

Jujitsu- an art of weaponless fighting employing holds, throws, and paralyzing blows to subdue or disable an opponent

Lissome- easily flexed; lithe; nimble

Cartilaginous- composed of, relating to, or resembling cartilage

Pejorative- having negative connotations; especially : tending to disparage or belittle; depreciatory

Surreptitious- done, made, or acquired by stealth : secret

Chicanery- deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry : trickery

Chapter Eight

Bilious- of or indicative of a peevish ill-natured disposition

Succinctly- precisely; concisely

Agglomeration- a heap or cluster of usually disparate elements

Nachronistic- chronologically out of order

Supine- inactive

Purblind- lacking in vision, insight, or understanding

Aver- to declare positively; to allege or assert in pleading

Chapter Nine

Peremptory- expressive of urgency or command

Placate- to soothe or mollify especially by concessions; appease

Sardonic- derisively mocking

Asseverate- to affirm or aver positively or earnestly

Apoplectically- affected with, inclined to, or showing symptoms of stroke; of, relating to, or causing stroke

Chapter Ten

Taut- tightly drawn

Porcinely- of, relating to, or suggesting swine

Exude- to ooze out

Gesticulate- to make gestures especially when speaking

Evanescent- tending to vanish like vapor; passing especially quickly into and out of existence