The Chapel vocabulary

The meaning given for each word is contextual meaning, that is to say it is the specific meaning of the word within the context of the story. Some of these words have other meanings not shown here.

For each word, an example sentence is shown in italics.

arrogant (adj)
thinking highly of oneself
Rick was arrogant to think any girl would go out with him.

bedside manner (n)
behaviour by a medical professional towards an ill patient
At the new hospital the nurses were all friendly and had a great bedside manner.

benevolent (adj)
The benevolent woman made dresses for the poor girls.

bewilder (v)
surprise; confuse
John's new purple hair colour bewildered his classmates.

blush (v)
become red in the face out of embarrassment
Lisa blushed when her father mentioned Chad's name.

breeding (n)
production of offspring
Breeding golden retrievers is a profitable profession.

brute (n)
a strong, violent person or animal
The brute beat up three kids on his way home from school.

cellophane (n)
clear wrapping material - usually for covering flowers or gift baskets
The florist wrapped the flowers in cellophane to protect them from the rain.

clamber (v)
climb clumsily or with much effort
John clambered through the junkyard looking for a used steering wheel.

clutch (v)
holding very tightly
The bride was clutching the groom's hand so tightly his fingers turned purple.

collapse (v)
fall to the ground
The building will collapse as soon as the dynamite explodes.

compelling (adj)
strong and believable
The pregnant woman's husband had a compelling reason for speeding.

composure (n)
a relaxed appearance
She held her composure until after her husband's funeral.

conceal (v)
The results of the vote were concealed in the envelope.

conceited (adj)
thinking highly of oneself
Jane is so conceited she voted herself for Prom Queen.

connubial (adj)
relating to marriage (outdated, formal)
The relatives were excited about Mark and Sally's upcoming connubial festivities.

creed (n)
a religious statement or belief
When we recite the creed everyone gets on their knees.

cremate (v)
burned a dead body to ashes
After they cremated my grandfather we had a service for his soul at the church.

discretion (n)
the keeping quiet of a secret or personal information
The receptionist must exhibit discretion when handling medical records.

diversify (v)
put money/effort into different things
The business college diversified into other programs including art and science.

dread (v)
fearing, not wanting to do or happen
I am dreading moving day because there is so much to do.

dusky (adj)
darkish in colour
The sky turned a dusky blue before the storm hit.

established (adj)
recognized or known for a long time
The 50-year-old barbershop is a well established business in our community.

exertion (n)
use of a lot of energy
The marathon runner fainted out of exertion.

full term (n) phrase
40 weeks pregnant, ready to deliver a baby
My sister was supposed to be born premature but surprisingly my mother made it to full term.

galvanized (adj)
protected metal
We need some galvanized nails for building the basement.

gleaming (adj)
shiny, bright
The toothpaste promises a gleaming smile.

glisten (v)
shone in the sun
The freshly washed car glistened in the driveway.

hammock (n)
a bed that swings between posts
I napped outside on the hammock.

harsh (adj)
difficult, cruel
The child was given a harsh punishment for stealing the chocolate bar.

humiliate (v)
embarrass someone terribly
My father humiliates me when he tells the story about how I crashed the car.

indignation (n)
anger because of unfairness or a wrongdoing
I was full of indignation after getting a parking ticket in my own street.

indisputable (adj)
unable to be challenged
It was indisputable that it was my turn to do the dishes.

inquest (n)
research into a serious matter
The police began an inquest into why the murder may have occurred.

irony (n)
an opposite or very different result than expected
The irony of the marriage was that the couple used to hate each other.

jilt (v)
cheated, treated unfairly
The jilted athletes were angry when they discovered that the winner had bribed the judges.

laden (adj)
The woman was laden with three children and two dogs.

layabouts (n) (informal)
lazy people
The layabouts were always skipping school and hanging out at the beach.

leering (adj)
looking at in a sexual way
The leering men distracted the cheerleaders on the field.

loathing (n)
severe hatred
My loathing for mathematics only increased after I failed the final exam.

mercilessly (adv)
showing no kindness or forgiveness
The bullies picked on Jordan mercilessly for the entire first year of high school.

misadventure (n)
an unexpected or unwanted happening
The hikers didn't foresee the misadventure of the avalanche.

mock (v)
tease, make fun of
When I was growing up my brother was always mocking my singing voice.

motive (n)
reason for doing something
The motive for the murder was jealousy.

mourn (v)
express sadness over a loss
We mourned for her death at the funeral.

nonchalantly (adv)
The man who got hit was walking nonchalantly across traffic.

numb (adj)
frozen, having no feeling
After skiing all day our toes were numb.

pallid (adj)
When her fever disappeared she was pallid as a ghost.

parched (adj)
dry from the heat
The grass was parched after the long dry winter.

pasty (adj)
pale in colour
My skin always looks pasty when I don't go to the tanning salon.

persistently (adv)
without giving up
Fiona persistently asked for a raise in her salary until her boss agreed.

pitch (n)
dark black substance used for waterproofing or making roads
We used the pitch on the roof to keep it from leaking.

pitch (v)
set something up
We were pitching our tent when it started to rain.

plantation (n)
an area of land dedicated to a specific crop
The workers spent the whole day getting beans from the coffee plantation.

potholes (n)
holes in the road caused by overuse or weather
The potholes in my town are going to ruin my tyres.

prudently (adv)
without taking risks
My grandmother prudently keeps to the slow lanes on the highway.

prying (adj)
The prying neighbours asked if the pregnant couple was going to get married.

pundits (n)
Hindu scholars
The pundits went from door to door speaking about religion.

pyre (n)
a pile of wood where a body is placed for burning
The pyre was arranged before the service.

reproach (n)
There was little reproach over the lateness of the flight because of the bad weather.

ruefully (adv)
I ruefully apologized for forgetting my father's birthday.

sardonic (adj)
disrespectful, cynical
The bartender threw out the man for making sardonic remarks to the waitress.

shrill (adj)
high pitched (in sound)
The shrill notes of the flute hurt my ears.

shrug (n)
gesture; lifting of the shoulders to show that you don't care or don't know an answer
The teacher asked another student after Mark answered the question with a shrug.

slats (n)
thin, narrow pieces of wood or other material
The dog poked his nose between the slats of the fence.

sprawling (adj)
spread widely
The sprawling ivy covers the front of the house.

squabble (v)
My parents always squabble about whose turn it is to pay.

stench (n)
terrible smell
The stench in the kitchen reminded us that we forgot to dispose of the garbage.

stow (v)
pack or store tidily in an appropriate place
I stowed my winter clothes in the attic.

succulently (adv)
The watermelon was succulently ripe.

tenuous (adj)
weak or slight
He gave a tenuous excuse for his absence.

tether (v)
tie to a post
He tethered the dog so it could not leave the yard.

treacle (n)
dark syrup
My sticky hands were covered in treacle from the tree.

treads (n)
marks left by shoes, cars or bicycle tyres
I knew by the treads on the driveway that my parents had been home.

uncomplicated (adj)
She finished the uncomplicated puzzle in no time.

unruffled (adj)
Maria appeared unruffled even though she forgot part of her speech.

verdict (n)
decision by a judge in court
The people in the courtroom waited for the judge to announce the verdict.

verge (n)
piece of land alongside the road
I left the car on the road and walked along the verge to the closest gas station.

vulgarity (n)
The street person expressed words of vulgarity after we refused to give him money.

wake (of a ship) (n)
disturbed water left by a ship
The surfers rode on the wake of the ship.

wheeze (v)
have difficulty breathing
I was wheezing in the forest because of my allergies.