The Sphinx Without A Secret by Oscar Wilde - HTML preview

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Glossary

 

To beg to ask strongly for something.

Bore – an uninteresting or boring person.

Butler – male servant in a house, responsible for serving drink.

To catch a chill to become ill because of the cold.

Clairvoyant – a person who can see into the future.

Crush – a crowd of people.

Curiosity – interested in knowing many things.

Etching – a drawing or scene done with a pencil.

Faint not clear.

Fellow – informal word for a man.

Frankness honesty.

To hesitate to stop or wait because of being uncertain.

Incessant – all the time.

Indefinable – not possible to describe.

Infatuated – to have some great extreme love for someone.

Lace – fine material made with a pattern of holes.

Lodgings – a place to live.

Lungs organ in the body used for breathing.

Matrimonially – related to marriage.

Pavement – the place on the street where people walk.

To peer to look at carefully.

Penteteuch The first five books of the Bible (Old Testament).

Postscript words written at the end of a letter (now simply P.S.).

Poverty the state of being poor, having no money.

Punctual – to always arrive on time.

The season regular social events held in high society.

Shabbiness old and dirty.

Short cut an unusual route shorter than the normal journey.

To sink to drop downwards, often into deep water.

Slight – thin.

Sovereign – an old English coin.

Subtle – quiet and intelligent.

To surround to cover on all sides.

Tories political party in England. Traditionally wealthy owners of land.

To trot a horse walking.

Unapproachable unfriendly, not easy to make friends with.

Vague not very clear.

Veil cloth worn to cover a woman’s face.

To wander to walk with no clear direction.

Widow a woman whose husband has died.