The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Vocabulary Terms
Chapters 1-2
1. chaperon – one who accompanies children when they would otherwise be unattended
2. porter – one who carries bags at a transportation depot
3. stench – foul smell
4. gesticulate – gesture
5. schoolmistress – unmarried school teacher in the 1800’s
6. trepidation – fear
7. vermin – bugs/pests
Chapters 3 – 5
8. censure – disapproval
9. unimpeachable – without fault
10. chastened – punished or humiliated
11. complicity – involvement in something
12. punctilious – proper; polite
13. sardonically – sarcastically
Chapters 6 – 8
14. disembarkation – getting off of a ship
15. fathom – understand
16. laconically – speaking with a minimum use of words
17. naïve – inexperienced and trusting
18. unstinting – generous
Chapters 9 – 12
19. dire – dreadful or grim
20. implacable – the quality of being unbending
21. palpable – real
22. scrutiny – close watch
23. wrath – anger with vengeance
Chapters 13-15
24. caucused – a closed meeting of a group of people
25. concoct – to make something up; invent
26. maelstrom – a powerful, often violent whirlpool that pulls things into it
27. abated – to decrease force or intensity
28. equanimity – self-control
Chapters 16 – 18
29. tumultuous – turbulent; disorderly
30. fastidiousness – the quality of being hard to please
31. portentously – in a sinister manner
32. steadfast – committed
33. amiss – wrong; incorrect
Chapters 19 – 21
34. apparition – ghostly figure
35. copiously – a lot; abundantly
36. enormity – huge importance
37. shrewdly – cleverly
38. surge – swell; rush
Chapter 22
39. balustrade – railing
40. morose – miserable
41. undulating – to move in waves
42. jovial – cheerful
43. skeptical – disbelieving