Vocabulary ladder
Anna Karenina
Part ONE, 2
1,240 words. Everyday vocabulary (band A) covers 60% of the text; the hard 8% is 38 entries — all of them below.
A 59.5% (275 types) B 5.6% (54 types) C 4.0% (39 entries) D 1.4% (13 entries) E 0.9% (11 entries) N 5.7% (14 entries)
Band B — common reading vocabulary
A sample of 24 of 54 — you will meet these often; they are explained only at the fullest help level.
- barber ×4
- persuading
- thrust ×2
- conceived
- forgiveness
- upstairs
- interfered
- fond
- stern
- glance · glanced, glancing ×3
- pity
- pause
- sympathy
- deliberately
- collar
- beg
- anticipated
- invisible
- ally
- silk
- lip
- inform ×3
- bare
- conscious
Band C — recognition checklist
All 39 upper-intermediate words in this chapter. Tick the ones you know; the rest are explained at the fullest help level.
- insoluble
- governess
- combed
- unfaithful
- decisively
- pitiful
- brighten
- vividly
- merciful
- nighttime
- sleek
- repent
- deceive
- inquire
- sly
- truthful
- vaguely
- doorway
- conceal
- vulgar
- oneself
- telegram
- blush
- silently
- curly
- beforehand
- shaving
- flirt
- query
- roland
- susceptible
- gaze
- incapable
- knot
- reconciliation
- nod
- fairness
- faint
- loudly
Band D — advanced (13 entries)
- dressing-gown ×2
- a loose robe worn at home
- ill-luck
- bad fortune
- thirty-four
- explained by the text itself
- worn-out
- worn out
- looking-glass ×4
- a mirror
- good-looking
- handsome
- tassels
- a hanging bunch of threads
- rustle
- a soft dry whispering sound
- whiskers
- hair on the cheeks
- speck
- a tiny spot
- indulgent
- gently allowing; not strict
- valet
- a gentleman's personal servant
- plump
- round and full-fleshed
Band E — rare & archaic (11 entries)
- carriage-jobbers
- men who hire out carriages
- decanter-women
- women shown as handles on a decanter
- good-humored
- cheerful and easygoing
- good-humoredly
- cheerfully and easygoing
- topsy-turvy
- upside down; in confusion
- well-groomed
- neatly kept and brushed
- disconsolately
- beyond comforting; gloomily
- misspelt
- spelt wrongly
- pockmarked
- scarred with smallpox pits
- roguish
- playfully mischievous
- creaky
- creaking
False friends — common words wearing old senses (2)
- awful
- full of awe — the old sense here
- deliberately
- slowly and carefully — the old sense here
Names (12)
- arkadyevitch ×14
- a Russian patronymic, meaning son of Arkady
- arkadyevna ×2
- a Russian patronymic, meaning daughter of Arkady
- philimonovna
- a Russian patronymic, meaning daughter of Filimon
- matvey ×17
- Oblonsky's valet
- matrona ×2
- a Russian woman's name
- alexandrovna ×4
- a Russian patronymic, meaning daughter of Alexandr
- darya ×4
- a Russian woman's name; also Dolly's full name
- stepan ×14
- a Russian man's name; also Oblonsky's first name
- anna ×2
- the woman this story follows, wife of a Petersburg official
- Anna Arkadyevna
- Anna, by her first name and patronymic
- Darya Alexandrovna
- Dolly, Oblonsky's wife, by her first name and patronymic
- Stepan Arkadyevitch
- Oblonsky, Anna's brother, by his first name and patronymic