CHAPTER 19 — Vocabulary
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain — key words and definitions
Vocabulary Words from CHAPTER 19
- tow-head (noun)
- A low-lying, sandy island or bar in a river, often covered with cottonwood trees and brush.
- monstrous (adverb/adjective)
- Extremely or enormously large; used colloquially for emphasis in the Southern vernacular.
- scow (noun)
- A flat-bottomed boat with a blunt bow, used for transporting goods on rivers.
- snag (noun)
- A submerged tree trunk or branch lodged in a riverbed, dangerous to boats and rafts.
- galoot (noun)
- An awkward, clumsy, or uncouth person; used informally and often humorously.
- ornery (adjective)
- Mean-spirited, ill-tempered, or shabby; a dialectal form of "ordinary" meaning low or common.
- galluses (noun)
- Suspenders used to hold up trousers; a dialectal term common in the American South.
- temperance (noun)
- The movement advocating moderation or total abstinence from alcoholic drinks.
- mesmerism (noun)
- An early form of hypnotism based on the theory of animal magnetism, popular in the 19th century.
- phrenology (noun)
- A pseudoscience that claimed to determine character traits and mental abilities by examining the shape of the skull.
- lineal (adjective)
- In a direct line of descent or ancestry; directly inherited from an ancestor.
- Dauphin (noun)
- The title given to the eldest son of the King of France; the heir to the French throne.
- balditude (noun)
- A humorous, invented word meaning baldness; a malapropism combining "bald" with a Latinate suffix.
- humbug (noun)
- A fraud, impostor, or something intended to deceive or mislead.
- degraded (adjective)
- Reduced to a lower rank, condition, or level of dignity; brought low.