Fahrenheit 451 Vocabulary List

Fahrenheit 451 Vocabulary List Part I—The Hearth and the Salamander
Word	Definition	Page #
Abyss	a very deep gap or hole, a chasm	45
ballistics	the study of flight of bullets or other hurled objects	30
cacophony	harsh, jarring sound; noise	49
cartographer	a mapmaker	61
centrifuge	a machine that separates particles in a liquid by rapidly whirling the liquid around a central axis	49
conjure	to summon, or call up, as if by magic	26
cower	to cringe in fear	52
distilled	purified or concentrated, as if by the processes of distillation	21
feigning	pretending	54
luminescent	glowing	52
mausoleum	a large stately tomb or the building that housed it	15
nomadic	traveling seasonally with no fixed home; wandering	60
noncombustible	not capable of igniting and burning; unexciting	64
olfactory	relating to the sense of smell	28
pagan	not Christian, Moslem, or Jewish; pre-Christian; heathen	63
pratfall	a comical fall on the behind; a humiliating mishap or error	59
proboscis	a long snout or nose	29
rationalize	to offer a self-serving but incorrect reason	67
ravenous	greedy; extremely hungry	45
stratum	layer	18
tactile	related to the sense of touch	65
tallow	hard animal fat used for candles	16
tamped	packed won	16
titillation	excitement, stimulation, often superficial	63
trajectory	the path of a bullet or another object hurled through space.	30

Part II—The Sieve and the Sand
Word	Definition	Page #
aesthetic	relating to beauty and taste; artistic	117
avalanche	a massive slide; a large mass falling down	121
convolution	a coiled shape or part	159
desolation	the result of deviating event; ruin	160
falter	to be unsteady; to stumble	129
guild	an association of people in the same trade	143
illumine	to light up	119
limned	outlined in clear detail; painted or drawn	l36
liquefaction	the act of turning to liquid	121
litterateur	someone devoted to the study of literature	121
metropolis	a major city	161
oblivion	the state of being forgotten	136
pedant	someone who overemphasizes or shows off his or her learning; someone who focuses unduly on minutiae	155
plummet	to fall straight down; to plunge	127
quarry	hunted animals or others	135
ricocheted	bounced from one or more surfaces	140
scapegoat	someone forced to take the blame of others	150
scythe	a bladed tool with a long bent handle, used for cutting or mowing	160
smoldering	burning with little smoke and no flame	119

Part III—Burning Bright
Word	Definition	Page #
beatific	blessedly happy	110
cadence	rhythmic; expressive	77
certitude	certainty, confidence	102
chaos	complete confusion	109
complementing	going well together	92
dentifrice	toothpaste or tooth powder	81
discourse	lengthy discussion in speech or writing	110
exhalation	an emission of air or vapor	74
filigree	delicate, ornamental work made from twisted wire of gold or silver	105
insidious	spreading harm slowly and secretly; treacherous	88
intuitively	through the senses rather than rational thought	85
invigorate	to give energy to; to animate	106
linguist	a language specialist	89
manifest	to show plainly; to reveal	108
moor	an area of poorly drained open land	110
morgue	a place where dead bodies are kept until final arrangements are made	75
oracle	a prophet; a wise person	109
patronage	support; attendance	77
perfunctorily	in a routine manner	111
phosphorescent	glowing	112
profusion	plentiful amount	85
quaver	to speak in a trembling voice	100
rebut	to refute; to offer opposing evidence	110
skepticism	a doubting or questioning attitude	86
strew	to spread; to scatter	83
suffuse	to spread through or over	78
teem	to be full of things; to swarm	75
trifle	a small amount; a little bit	95
verbiage	excess words; wordiness	109
welter	a confused mass; a jumble	92

Part II—The Sieve and the Sand