Vocabulary #13: The Handmaid’s Tale (ch 31-Historical Notes)

implacable

• relentless; unstoppable
• pleasantly easy to approach and to talk to; friendly; cordial; warmly polite
• capable of being touched or felt
• having two or more possible meanings
• self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness

affable

• pleasantly easy to approach and to talk to; friendly; cordial; warmly polite
• capable of being touched or felt
• having two or more possible meanings
• self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness
• the power of choosing or determining : will

palpable

• capable of being touched or felt
• having two or more possible meanings
• self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness
• the power of choosing or determining : will
• a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something

equivocal

• having two or more possible meanings
• self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness
• the power of choosing or determining : will
• a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something
• a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful

maudlin

• self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness
• the power of choosing or determining : will
• a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something
• a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful
• temperamentally disinclined to talk

volition

• the power of choosing or determining : will
• a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something
• a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful
• temperamentally disinclined to talk
• very low in spirit or hope

travesty

• a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something
• a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful
• temperamentally disinclined to talk
• very low in spirit or hope
• the beginning

platitude

• a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful
• temperamentally disinclined to talk
• very low in spirit or hope
• the beginning
• a level or rank in an organization, a profession, or society

taciturn

• temperamentally disinclined to talk
• very low in spirit or hope
• the beginning
• a level or rank in an organization, a profession, or society
• a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics and especially the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group

abject

• very low in spirit or hope
• the beginning
• a level or rank in an organization, a profession, or society
• a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics and especially the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group
• to impregnate or inspire, as with feelings, opinions, etc