Poets and Pancakes lesson Word Meaning

 Chapter 6 Poets and Pancakes

Affluent: having a great deal of money, wealthy

Andre Gide: A French writer, humanist, moralist, received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947.

Anglo-Burmese: The Anglo-Burmese people, also known as the Anglo-Burmans, are a community of Eurasians of Burmese and European descent, who emerged as a distinct. community through mixed relations between the British and other European settlers and the indigenous peoples of Burma from 1826 until 1948 when Myanmar gained its independence from the United Kingdom.

Arthur Koestler: A Hungarian born British novelist, known for his novel Darkness at Noon.

Bafflement: confusion, bewilderment

Averse: having a strong dislike of or opposition to something

Bare: empty

Barge in: to walk into a room quickly, without being invited

Blew over: to pass by or to end

Broadcasting: the transmission of programmes or information by radio or television

Catapulted: move suddenly or at great speed

Coat of mail- a protective garment made of linked metal rings (mail) or of overlapping metal plates

Cold logic: logic that fails to consider human factors such as culture, language, social dynamics,

personality and emotion

Communism: collectivism, socialism

Compunction: reluctance

Conjugal: relating to marriage or the relationship between a married couple

Conscious: aware

Contrary: opposite in nature, direction or meaning

Countermovement: a movement or other action made in opposition to another.

Countryside: from village

Covertly: secretly

Crimson hue: deep red colour

Critic: a person who judges the merits of literary or artistic works

Cubicle: a small partitioned-off area of a room

Deftly: effortlessly

Deliberately: on purpose

Demeanour: manner; attitude.

Devadasis: In South India, a devadasi is a girl "dedicated" to worship and serve a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The system was outlawed in all of India in 1988.

Dhoti: a garment worn by male Hindus, consisting of a piece of material tied around the waist and extending to cover most of the legs

Diction: the style of enunciation in speaking or singing; articulation

Direst: terrible

Drudge: a person made to do hard menial or dull work.

Dwarfed: cause to seem small or insignificant in comparison

Enlightened: having or showing a rational, modern and well-informed outlook.

Epics: an exceptionally long and arduous task or activity

Etched: here, defined, described

Fiery: red-hot, scorching

Filial: relating to or due from a son or daughter.

Forbidden: not allowed; banned.

Forthcoming: about to happen or appear

Foul: bad

French window: each of a pair of glazed doors in an outside wall, serving as a window and door, typically opening onto a garden or balcony

Genius: an exceptionally intelligent person

Genuine: true

Haunt: frequently visited by

Having a hand in: to be involved with something

Hideous: extremely ugly

Hierarchy: A system in which members of an organization or society are ranked according to

relative status or authority

Homilies: sermon; lecture

Hues: complexion

Ignazio Silone: An Italian writer, who was the founder member of the Italian communist party in 1921, and is known for the book. The God That Failed, authored by him.

Ignominy: public shame or disgrace

Improvident: a person who does not plan his expenses and ends up wasting money

Incandescent: emitting light as a result of being heated; burning

Incriminating: making someone appear guilty of a crime or wrongdoing.

Integration: unification

Khadi: an Indian homespun cotton cloth

Lead: main

Leisure: time when one is not working or occupied; free time

Literary: associated with literary works or other formal writing

Literati: well-educated people who are interested in literature.

Louis Fischer: A well known American journalist and a writer of Mahatma Gandhi's biography entitled

Loyalty: a strong feeling of support for someone

Full text: 23967 Christianity religion

- a particular caste in Indian Christians of people from Madras who

Main players: actors performing the main roles

Loyalty: a strong feeling of support for someone

Madras Indian Christian: a particular caste in Indian Christians of people from Madras who have been converted to Christianity religion

Main players: actors performing the main roles

Manuscript: an author's handwritten or typed text that has not yet been published

Mess: a building or room providing meals

Misery: a state or feeling of great physical or mental distress or discomfort

Overshadowed: was better than

Persevering: continuing in a course of action despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

Perverts: a person whose sexual behaviour is regarded as abnormal and unacceptable.

played into their hands to do something that one does not realize will hurt oneself and help someone else

Potions: a liquid mixture

Prerequisite: a thing that is required as a prior condition for something else to happen or exist

Prohibition: the act of forbidding something

Pursuit: hobby, activity

Refrain: lines that are repeated in poetry

Richard Wright: An American writer, known for his novel Native Son and his autobiography Black Boy.

Sneaking into: doing something in a secretive or stealthy way

Sophistication: having a good understanding of the way people behave

Sprawling: spreading over a large area, detailed

Stephen Spender: An English poet essayist who concentrated on themes of social injustice and class struggle.

Struck dumb: shocked

Subsidiary: secondary, supporting

Surmise: guess; suspect

Sycophant: a person who acts obsequiously (excessively obedient) towards someone important in order to gain advantage

Tempramental: liable to unreasonable changes of mood.

The Life of Mahatma Gandhi. The Oscar winning film Gandhi is based on this biographical account.

Tirade: a long, angry speech of criticism or accusation

Trapeze: a horizontal bar hanging with two ropes and free to swing, used by acrobats in a circus.

Unwittingly: unknowingly

Vaguely: in a way that is uncertain

Virtue: behaviour showing high moral standards; here, good luck

Woes: distress