CHAPTER 25 — Vocabulary

Vocabulary Words from CHAPTER 25

flapdoodle (noun)

Nonsense; foolish or empty talk intended to deceive or impress.

doxolojer (noun)

Huck's dialect pronunciation of "doxology," a short hymn of praise to God, typically sung at the end of a church service.

soul-butter (noun)

Excessive sentimental or insincere emotional flattery; empty religious or pious talk.

hogwash (noun)

Nonsense; worthless or insincere talk. Originally referred to kitchen scraps fed to pigs.

tanyard (noun)

A place where animal hides are processed and turned into leather using tannin; a tannery.

yaller-boys (noun)

Slang for gold coins, referring to their yellow color. Also called "yaller-jackets" in the chapter.

obsequies (noun)

Formal funeral rites or ceremonies held in honor of a deceased person.

sanctified (adjective)

Made holy or sacred; consecrated. Used here to describe how the king claims grief is made sacred by the townspeople's sympathy.

diseased (adjective (misused))

The king's malapropism for "deceased" (the dead person). He repeatedly says "diseased" instead of "deceased" throughout his speech.

sapheads (noun)

Fools or simpletons; people easily deceived or lacking good judgment.

flathead (noun)

A stupid or gullible person; a fool.

vizz (adverb)

Huck's phonetic spelling of "viz.," an abbreviation of the Latin "videlicet," meaning "namely" or "that is to say."

bully (adjective)

Excellent; first-rate; admirable. A common 19th-century colloquialism expressing enthusiastic approval.

deffisit (noun)

Huck's dialect spelling of "deficit"; a shortfall or the amount by which something falls short of what is expected.

vale of sorrers (noun phrase)

Dialect form of "vale of sorrows," a Biblical expression meaning the world of earthly suffering and grief.