A Tale Of Two Cities

Vocabulary
Chapters 1,2,3
• aristocratic: belonging to the upper class
• atrocious: very bad or cruel
• bastille: a former prison in Paris, destroyed during the French
Revolution
• benign: kindly or gentle
• compassionate: feeling or showing sympathy and concern for
others
• confise: to take possession of something by force, especially in
wartime
• contagious: (of a disease) spreadable by contact
• despotic: exercising complete and often oppressive power
• desolation: a state of complete destruction or emptiness
• despondent: having lost hope or courage
• discontent: dissatisfaction
• disorderly: not in order; untidy or chaotic
• distill: to produce alcohol by heating a fermented liquid
• ebullition: a sudden outburst of strong emotion or excitement
• emigration: the act of leaving one country to live in another
• factious: given to causing or taking part in dissension or argument
• forlorn: pitifully sad and lonely
• fortitude: courage in facing difficulty or pain
• fester: to develop pus or become infected
• fevered: in a state of high fever
• frantic: wild or uncontrolled, especially with fear or anxiety
• frenzied: wild and uncontrollable
• gallows: a structure for hanging criminals
• haggard: looking worn out and unhealthy, especially because of
worry or suffering
• hectic: rushed and busy
• ignominious: causing shame or humiliation
• imprisonment: the state of being confined in a prison
• impetuous: acting or done quickly and without thought
• informer: someone who secretly gives information to the
authorities
• insurrection: a violent uprising against authority or government
• malady: a disease or ailment
• merciful: compassionate and forgiving
• monarchy: a form of government in which a country is ruled by a
king or queen
• morose: sullen and bad-tempered
• mutinous: rebellious or disobedient
• noxious: harmful or poisonous
• oppressor: someone who exercises power tyrannically
• outlaw: a person who has been declared to be outside the
protection of the law
• pallid: pale and unhealthy-looking
• pillage: to steal things from a place by force, especially in wartime
• plagues: a disease that kills many people, especially an epidemic
• premature: happening or done earlier than necessary or expected
• preoccupied: having one's mind filled with a particular thought or
activity
• presentiment: a feeling that something is going to happen,
especially something bad
• procession: a group of people who are walking or moving together
in a formal or orderly way
• proclaimed: announced or made known officially
• reckless: not caring about the consequences of one's actions
• refugee: someone who has been forced to leave their country
because of war, persecution, or natural disaster
• remorseful: feeling guilty or regretful about something wrong that
one has done
• reprieve: a postponement of the execution of a sentence of death
• republic: a form of government in which the country is not ruled
by a king or queen, but by elected representatives
• scaffold: a raised platform used for executing criminals
• scant: not enough
• seething: full of anger or resentment
• sedition: words or actions that are intended to cause rebellion
against the government
• seditious: tending to cause rebellion against the government
• squalid: dirty and unpleasant
• stifling: hot and humid, so that it is difficult to breathe
• tumultuous: noisy and chaotic
• turbulent: noisy and chaotic, especially because of violence or
anger
• tyranny: cruel and unreasonable use of power