Lord of the FliesChapters 3 & 4 Vocabulary

Festooned (verb)

Decorated

“The tree trunks and the

creepers that festooned them lost

themselves in a green dusk thirty feet

above him, and all about was the undergrowth.”

Oppressive (adjective)

Very harsh or severe

“The silence of the forest was more

oppressive than the heat, and at this hour of the day there was not even the whine of

insects.”

Furtive (adjective)

Stealthy; sneaky

“…and for a minute became less a hunter than a

furtive thing, ape-like among the

tangle of trees.”

Vicissitudes (noun)

Difficulties or hardships beyond

one’s control

“Jack stood there, streaming with

sweat, streaked with brown earth, stained

by all the vicissitudes of a day’s hunting.”

Contrite (adjective)

Grieving and sorry for sins or

shortcomings

“Simon’s contrite face appeared in the

hole.”

Antagonism (noun)

Hostility or anger

“Now the antagonism was

audible.”

Audible (adjective)

Able to be heard

“Now the antagonism was

audible.”

Tacit (adjective)

Understood without words

“… and by tacit consent they left the

shelter and went toward the bathing

pool.”

Myriad (noun)

A great number

“Like a myriad of tiny teeth in a saw, the transparencies same scavenging over the beach.”

Taboo (adjective)

A prohibition based on social custom

“Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old

life.”