ACT I - Scene V — Vocabulary

Vocabulary Words from ACT I - Scene V

sulphurous (adjective)

Of or relating to sulfur; in this context, describing the tormenting fires of purgatory.

unfold (verb)

To reveal or disclose something previously hidden or unknown.

harrow (verb)

To cause intense distress or torment; to lacerate the feelings.

blazon (noun)

A public proclamation or revelation; originally a heraldic term meaning to display or describe.

adulterate (adjective)

Guilty of adultery; corrupt or debased through impurity.

hebona (noun)

A poisonous substance, likely henbane or a fictional poison derived from it, used by Claudius to murder King Hamlet.

leperous (adjective)

Causing or resembling leprosy; producing disfiguring sores and decay.

posset (verb)

To curdle or coagulate, as milk does when mixed with acid or wine.

tetter (noun)

A skin disease or eruption, such as eczema or herpes, producing scabs and crust.

lazar-like (adjective)

Resembling a lazar (leper); diseased and repulsive in appearance. From the biblical Lazarus.

dispatch (verb)

To deprive of or send away; here meaning to be robbed of life, crown, and queen all at once.

luxury (noun)

In Elizabethan usage, lechery or lust, not material extravagance.

antic (adjective)

Bizarre, grotesque, or clownishly strange in manner or appearance.

pernicious (adjective)

Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way; deadly and destructive.

truepenny (noun)

An honest or trustworthy fellow; used here as a familiar, almost humorous address to the Ghost.

pioner (noun)

A soldier who digs tunnels or trenches; a pioneer or miner. Hamlet calls the Ghost this as it moves underground.