| A | B |
|---|
| daze | overcome as with astonishment or disbelief EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Now Juana brought her clay pot of water and she washed the cut on his face while he stared dazed ahead of him. |
| lethargy | weakness characterized by a lack of vitality or energy EXAMPLE SENTENCE: A lethargy had settled on him, and a little gray hopelessness. |
| crevice | a long narrow opening EXAMPLE SENTENCE: The neighbors, watching Kino’s door through the crevices in their brush houses, were dressed and ready too. |
| benign | pleasant and beneficial in nature or influence EXAMPLE SENTENCE: His face was fatherly and benign, and his eyes twinkled with friendship. |
| legerdemain | an illusory feat; considered magical by naive observers EXAMPLE SENTENCE: His door stood open to the morning, and he hummed under his breath while his right hand practiced legerdemain. |
| spurn | reject with contempt EXAMPLE SENTENCE: The dealer’s fingers spurned the pearl so that it bounced and rebounded softly from the side of the velvet tray. |
| collusion | secret agreement EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Go to their offices and show your pearl—or better let them come here, so that you can see there is no collusion. |
| perplexed | full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Now Kino’s face was perplexed and worried. |
| defy | resist or confront with resistance EXAMPLE SENTENCE: And now, said other fearful ones, now that he had defied them, those buyers will not want to deal with him at all. |
| solemn | dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises EXAMPLE SENTENCE: The gathering procession was solemn, for they sensed the importance of this day, and any children who showed a tendency to scuffle, to scream, to cry out, to steal hats and rumple hair, were hissed to silence by their elders. |
| vigor | active strength of body or mind EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Kino put on his large straw hat and felt it with his hand to see that it was properly placed, not on the back or side of his head, like a rash, unmarried, irresponsible man, and not flat as an elder would wear it, but tilted a little forward to show aggressiveness and seriousness and vigor. |
