To Kill a Mockingbird Vocabulary Chapter 1 - Vocabulary ambled ...

livid (adj.): pale; lead-colored. Livid can also mean red, as in the color someone's face
gets when that person becomes angry.
oppressive (adj.): overbearing; hard to put up with
palliation (n.): to palliate is to lessen the pain, or, in this case, fear and anxiety, of
something without actually making the fear and anxiety go away. Calpurnia is not a
great source of palliation; that is, she doesn't make the children feel any less anxious or
fearful.
passé (adj.): old-fashioned
philippic (n.): a bitter verbal attack
plate (n.): dentures; dental plate
propensities (n.): inclinations or tendencies
reconnaissance (n.): examination
rectitude (n.): uprightness of character
relic (n): something of historic interest that has survived from the past. In this case,
Scout is referring to a gun that would have been used in the Civil War.
skulked (vb.): to move or slink about in a sinister manner. The children are skulking in
the kitchen because they are fearful of Atticus's reaction when he returns home.
syringe (n.): a device with a rubber bulb on one end and a narrow tube on the other:
used to inject or extract fluids from body cavities.
tirade (n.): a long angry speech
tranquil (adj.): calm
umbrage (n.): offense
undulate (vb.): to move in waves or in a wavy manner
viscous (adj.): sticky
Chapter 12 - Vocabulary
alien (adj.): not natural; strange
appalling (adj.): shocking; horrifying
asafoetida (n.): a strong-smelling (like garlic) substance made from a parsley-like plant;
often used in folk medicine to repel illness