To Kill A Mockingbird Vocabulary

1. To Kill A Mockingbird Vocabulary Chapters 17-19

2. Contrary (adjective)[kon-trer-ee] opposite in nature, character, direction, or position; opposed On the contrary, many of the students did not agree with me. Contrary to most of Maycomb County, the Finch family was not racist. Atticus did not agree with Mayella about Tom. There are those in Maycomb that think contrarily when it comes to the Finch family values. Bob and Mayella’s stories caused a contradiction in the testimony.

3. Acrimonious (adjective)[ak-ruh-moh-nee-uh s]  stinging, sharp, or bitter in nature or speech or behavior; rude; aggressive Bob’s acrimonious behavior in the courtroom was unacceptable to Judge Taylor. He stood before the crowd and expressed his displeasure for the school in a loud acrimonious speech. She screamed that my moustache was stupid. Acrimoniously, Mayella let Judge Taylor know what she thought of Atticus. Atticus knew that the acrimoniousness of her comments came from years of abuse and neglect.

4. Evoke (verb)[ih-vohk]  to call up or produce; to draw forth; to conjure I knew dropping the bread crumbs into the water would evoke the fish. She rubbed the lamp hoping to evoke the genie from within. When he brought up my father, I began to cry. Tom’s testimony evoked feelings of sadness for him from Jem and Scout. We spent our time evoking the kitten out of the box with a feather. The evocation of some of the themes in To Kill A Mockingbird has caused some schools to ban the book.

5. Complacent (adjective)[kuh m-pley-suhnt]  pleased, especially with oneself or one's advantages or accomplishments I was fired because I became complacent and didn’t care about my job any more. The kicker lost her job because she became complacent and didn’t think she could get any better. I will never be satisfied as a teacher because I can always do a better job. Complacently, he stood in the batter’s box knowing he was going to smack one out of the yard.

6. Irrelevant (adjective)[ih-rel-uh-vuhnt]  not relevant; not applicable or important The fact that Tom couldn’t have hit Mayella with his left hand was irrelevant to the Ewells. It is irrelevant to us that South Lake cancelled school because of the weather; we will go to school today. Your brother coming home from the Army is no excuse for not doing your homework. She irrelevantly shot the ball into the hoop after the final buzzer. Due to the irrelevance of the essay’s topic; it didn’t get any credit and she failed the class as a result.

7. Tedious (adjective)[tee-dee-uh s]  long and tiresome; weary; boredom Reading a novel out loud in a class can be tedious. Judge Taylor listened to the tedious testimony of all the witnesses. It took me 17 hours, without a break, to complete the jigsaw puzzle. Tediously, I rode my unicycle home to Chesterfield. The tediousness of running laps for hours made me want to quit the team.

8. Serene (adjective) [suh-reen]  calm, peaceful, or tranquil; unruffled Sitting next to the lake, I enjoyed the serene moment by myself. Searching for a serene place to hide; my mother locked herself in the bathroom for an hour. Blasting down the freeway on my motorcycle is relaxing. Serenely, we unfolded our blanket and proceeded to nap beneath the sun. The serenity of this spot makes me want to stay here forever.

9. Concede (verb)[kuh n-seed]  To acknowledge or admit; to yield; to give up The jury had to concede that Tom couldn’t be the one who beat up Mayella. The South eventually had to concede that the North was going to win the war. Even I had to admit that what she said was inappropriate. Concededly, I lowered my head and accepted my defeat. Mr. C conceded that Track was not for him.

10. Subtle Adjective fine or delicate in meaning or intent; difficult to perceive or understand I heard his subtle comment about my mustache being stupid. As I read the novel, I began to see the symbols and images reinforcing the theme. She subtly hinted that my zipper was down. The subtleness of the images in the novel made it difficult to understand for some students.

11. Candid adjective honest; open and sincere Atticus was candid when he explained to the kids that Mrs. Dubose was a terrible lady. My wife looked me in the eyes and said, “Your breath smells like the litter box.” I appreciated her candidness and went and brushed my teeth. Candidly, Mrs. Dubose screamed that the Finch family was trash.