The Great Gatsby Chapter 1 Vocab

In consequence, I'm _________ to reserve all judgments.

What does 'inclined' mean?

Most of the confidences were unsought- frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile _______ when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon.

What does 'levity' mean?

My family have been ________, well-to-do people in this Middle Western city for three generations.

What does 'prominent' mean?

I had that familiar ________ that life was beginning over again with the summer.

What does 'conviction' mean?

This isn't just an ________—life is much more successfully looked at from a single window, after all.

What does 'epigram' mean?

Jut out into the most __________ body of salt water in the Western Hemisphere, the great wet barnyard of Long Island Sound.

Their house was even more _________ than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay.

What does 'elaborate' mean?

Two shining _______ eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward.

What does 'arrogant' mean?

There was a touch of _________ contempt in it, even toward people he liked.

What does 'paternal' mean?

Turning me around by one arm, he moved a broad flat hand along the front vista, including in its sweep a sunken Italian garden, a half acre of deep, _______ roses.

What does 'pungent' mean?

She hinted in a murmur that the _______ of the balancing girl was Baker.

What does 'surname' mean?

Evidently it surprised her as much as it did me, for she yawned and with a series of rapid, _____ movements stood up into the room.

What does 'deft' mean?

She was a slender, small-breasted girl, with an erect carriage, which she ________ by throwing her body backward at the shoulders like a young cadet.

What does 'accentuated' mean?

Before I could reply that he was my neighbor dinner was announced; wedging his tense arm ________ under mine, Tom Buchanan compelled me from the room.

What does 'imperatively' mean?

That's what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical _______ of a ----.

What does 'specimen' mean?

Sometimes she and Miss Baker talked at once, unobtrusively and with a bantering ________ that was never quite chatter.

What does 'inconsequence' mean?

After an _________ hesitation he included Daisy with a slight nod, and she winked at me again.

What does 'infinitesimal' mean?

There was something pathetic in his concentration, as if his _________, more acute than of old, was not enough to him any more.

What does 'complacency' mean?

Miss Baker and I exchanged a short glance consciously ______ of meaning.

What does 'devoid' mean?

A ________ impassioned murmur was audible in the room beyond, and Miss Baker leaned forward unashamed, trying to hear.

What does 'subdued' mean?

The murmur trembled on the verge of ________, sank down, mounted excitedly, and then ceased altogether.

What does 'coherence' mean?

I couldn't guess what Daisy and Tom were thinking, but I doubt if even Miss Baker, who seemed to have mastered a certain hardy ________, was able utterly to put this fifth guest's shrill metallic urgency out of mind.

What does 'scepticism' mean?

To a certain _________ the situation might have seemed intriguing—my own instinct was to telephone immediately for the police.

What does 'temperament' mean?

Tom and Miss Baker, with several feet of twilight between them, strolled back into the library, as if to a _______ beside a perfectly tangible body.

What does 'vigil' mean?

I saw that turbulent emotions possessed her, so I asked what I thought would be some ______ questions about her little girl.

What does 'sedative' mean?

Her eyes flashed around her in a defiant way, rather like Tom's, and she laughed with thrilling _____.

What does 'scorn' mean?

The instant her voice broke off ceasing to _______ my attention, my belief, I felt the basic insincerity of what she had said.

What does 'compel' mean?

I know now why her face was familiar - its pleasing ________ expression had looked out at me from many rotogravure pictures of the sporting life at Asheville and Hot Springs and Palm Beach.

What does 'contemptuous' mean?

As I started my motor Daisy _________ called: 'Wait!'

What does 'peremptorily' mean?

Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical _______ no longer nourished his peremptory heart.

What does 'egotism' mean?