Catcher in the Rye Essay

Word

Definition & POS

As Holden says…(and page number)

As you say in your own words, or mnemonic device.

ostracized

(verb) exclude (someone) from a society or group.

The whole team ostracized me the whole way back on the train. It was pretty funny, in a way.

The ostritch was ostracized by other birds.

innumerable

(adj) countless

“The Egyptians are extremely interesting to us today for various reasons. Modern science would still like to know what the secret ingredients were that the Egyptians used when they wrapped up dead people so that their faces would not rot for innumerable centuries.”

Bill Gates has an innumberable amount of positive characteristics.

grippe

(noun) influenza

“He had the grippe, and I figured I probably wouldn't see him again till Christmas vacation started.”

Another word for flu.

My cousin got influenza on vacation.

sadist

(noun) torturer; one who achieves gratification by inflicting pain

“Besides, I know it annoyed hell out of old Ackley. He always brought out the old sadist in me. I was pretty sadistic with him quite often.”

Satin is a sadist.

qualms

(noun) an uneasy feeling of doubt, worry, or fear, especially about one's own conduct; a misgiving.

"Do you have any particular qualms about leaving Pencey?"

"Oh, I have a few qualms, all right. Sure. . . but not too many. Not yet, anyway. I guess it hasn't really hit me yet. It takes things a while to hit me.

I have a few qulams in my life but will eventually overcome them.

unscrupulous

(adj) having or showing no moral principles; not honest or fair.

“If you knew Stradlater, you'd have been worried, too. I'd double-dated with that bastard a couple of times, and I know what I'm talking about. He was unscrupulous. He really was.”

The boys playing the game were uncrupulous.

pacifist

(noun) a person who believes that war and violence are unjustifiable.

“I'd only been in about two fights in my life, and I lost both of them. I'm not too tough. I'm a pacifist, if you want to know the truth.”

Martin Luther King Jr. was a pacifist.

lavish

(adj) extravagant, fancy

“I have this grandmother that's quite lavish with her dough. She doesn't have all her marbles any more--she's old as hell--and she keeps sending me money for my birthday about four times a year.”

I had a very lavish car.

conscientious

(adj) upright; scrupulous; guided by right and wrong

"Do you like Pencey?" she asked me.

"Pencey? It's not too bad. It's not paradise or anything, but it's as good as most schools. Some of the faculty are pretty conscientious."

A person with the right morals.

incognito

(noun) concealed identity

“He was always coming in and sitting down in the back of the room for about a half an hour. He was supposed to be incognito or something.”

The detective went incognito when he was on a mission.

unanimous

(adj) (two or more) people in full agreement.

"Well, a bunch of us wanted old Ernie to be president of the class. I mean he was the unanimous choice. I mean he was the only boy that could really handle the job,"

The class was unanimous about reading this novel.

suave

(adj) smooth. (especially of a man) charming, confident, and elegant.

"Would any of you girls care to dance?" I didn't ask them crudely or anything. Very suave, in fact.

At the Whooten school they had this very sophisticated suave guy.

putrid

(adj) of organic matter) decaying or rotting; smell is awful

“The band was putrid. Buddy Singer. Very brassy, but not good brassy--corny brassy.”

The apple was putrid after being left out for days.

immensely

(adv) to a great extent; extremely

“I had a terrible time getting her to at least open her eyes when she took a swing at the ball. I improved her game immensely, though. I'm a very good golfer.”

I hated drinking milk immensely as a child.

nonchalant

(adj) feeling or appearing calm and relaxed; not displaying anxiety, interest, or enthusiasm.

“I hardly didn't even show it. I just got very cool and nonchalant. I puked before I went to bed, but I didn't really have to--I forced myself.”

I was nonchalant about the recent news report.

blasé

(adj) unconcerned; apathetic to pleasure or excitement

“He was with some gorgeous blonde, and the two of them were trying to be very blasé and all, like as if he didn't even know people were looking at him.”

He has a very blase when his bosses in trouble.

inane

(adj) pointless; insubstantial; shallow

"Not necessarily in China, for God's sake. The East I said. Must we go on with this inane conversation?"

Some of the classes we take in school are inane.

provocative

(adj) stimulating; something that provokes or excites

Don’t you think if someone starts out to tell you about his father’s farm, he should stick to his guns, then get around to telling you about his uncle’s brace? Or, if his uncle’s brace is such a provocative subject, shouldn’t he have selected it in the first place as his subject--not the farm?”

His gestures were very provoative.

digression

(noun) a temporary departure from the main subject in speech or writing.

“It’s this course where each boy in class has to get up in class and make a speech. You know. Spontaneous and all. And if the boy digresses at all, you’re supposed to yell ‘Digression!’ at him as fast as you can.”

Tangent

ostracized

innumerable

sadist

qualms

unscrupulous

pacifist

lavish

conscientious

incognito

unanimous

suave

putrid

immensely

nonchalant

blasé

inane

provocative

digression

disdain