ACT III - Scene II — Vocabulary

Vocabulary Words from ACT III - Scene II

trippingly (adverb)

In a light, quick, fluent manner; smoothly and nimbly.

robustious (adjective)

Boisterous, noisy, and rough in manner; excessively vigorous.

periwig-pated (adjective)

Wearing a wig; wig-headed. Used to describe a pretentious or affected actor.

groundlings (noun)

Audience members who stood in the pit of an Elizabethan theater, paying the cheapest admission price.

temperance (noun)

Moderation and self-restraint; the quality of being temperate.

censure (noun)

Judgment or opinion; in Elizabethan usage, not necessarily negative but meaning critical assessment.

commingled (adjective)

Mixed or blended together thoroughly.

occulted (adjective)

Hidden from view; concealed or kept secret.

stithy (noun)

A smithy or forge; an anvil. Used metaphorically to suggest something dark and fiery.

miching malhecho (noun phrase)

Sneaking mischief; secret wrongdoing. From the Spanish "mal hecho" (evil deed).

wormwood (noun)

A bitter herb; figuratively, something bitter or grievous to the feelings.

tropically (adverb)

Figuratively; by way of a trope or figure of speech.

choler (noun)

Anger or irritability; one of the four bodily humors in medieval medicine, associated with a hot temperament.

purgation (noun)

The act of purging or cleansing; in medieval medicine, the removal of impurities from the body.

ventages (noun)

Finger holes on a wind instrument such as a recorder.

compass (noun)

Range or scope; in music, the full range of notes an instrument or voice can produce.

contagion (noun)

The spreading of disease or corruption; a harmful or corrupting influence.

shent (adjective)

Shamed, rebuked, or put to disgrace. An archaic past participle of "shend."