Vocabulary ladder
Anna Karenina
Part ONE, 9
2,466 words. Everyday vocabulary (band A) covers 63% of the text; the hard 6% is 69 entries — all of them below.
A 63.0% (385 types) B 5.5% (111 types) C 4.9% (75 entries) D 2.3% (41 entries) E 0.6% (9 entries) N 2.7% (19 entries)
Band B — common reading vocabulary
A sample of 24 of 111 — you will meet these often; they are explained only at the fullest help level.
- flushed
- deliberate
- despair
- merry
- heel
- hut
- promptly ×2
- skating ×2
- carriage · carriages ×3
- uttered
- clutching
- overwhelmed
- fond ×2
- nursery
- stern
- glancing
- absorbed
- affection
- offended
- consequently
- dull ×2
- grasped
- cord
- desperately
Band C — recognition checklist
All 75 upper-intermediate words in this chapter. Tick the ones you know; the rest are explained at the fullest help level.
- coffeehouse
- shapely
- coldness
- coldly
- recollect
- inwardly
- overcoat
- earnestly
- governess
- boldness
- breathless
- frosty
- stiffness
- alternately
- timid
- merciful
- serene
- denote
- didn
- overtake
- reassure
- conquering
- crease
- skater
- sincerity
- ponder
- soften
- adorn
- haste
- subdued
- awfully
- stumble
- truthful
- rumble
- stride
- enchanted
- swarm
- compose
- ecstasy
- learner
- restrain
- cling
- birch
- troubling
- acquaint
- carve
- tighten
- dart
- acquaintance
- brow
- amidst
- blush
- brightness
- jolly
- muse
- slender
- attendant
- curly
- mound
- freshly
- pavilion
- gaze
- trouser
- childish
- greet
- motif
- shrine
- laden
- nod
- policeman
- skate
- splendid
- vivid
- tightly
- strap
Band D — advanced (41 entries)
- first-rate ×3
- of the best kind
- horror-stricken
- struck with horror
- mother-in-law ×2
- a husband's or wife's mother
- panic-stricken
- seized by panic
- self-possession
- calm command of oneself
- skating-ground ×2
- a place kept for gliding on ice
- well-dressed
- dressed well
- well-swept
- swept clean
- unwonted
- unusual for the person
- unlooked
- unlooked-for: unexpected
- overspread
- spread over
- unceasingly
- without stopping
- ringlets
- a curl of hair
- uncertainly
- unsurely
- crestfallen
- with drooping spirits; ashamed
- stiffly
- without ease
- childishness
- childish ways
- girlish
- like a young girl
- vestments
- a priest's robe
- nikolay ×2
- a Russian man's name; also Levin's elder brother
- scurrying
- to run in small quick steps
- clank
- a dull metallic ring
- muff ×3
- a clumsy useless fellow
- mournful
- full of mourning
- nettles
- a stinging plant
- peculiarities
- a special odd feature
- flirtation
- playing at love
- dejected
- cast down in spirits
- hurriedly ×2
- in a rush
- aren
- are not
- hygienic
- good for keeping the body clean and well
- friendliness ×4
- friendly warmth
- blissful
- full of bliss
- sledge · sledges ×5
- a sled drawn over snow
- conjured
- to beg solemnly
- whence
- from where
- throbbing
- a strong beat of the heart
- twigs
- a small thin branch
- rapture ×2
- carried-away joy
- composure
- calm self-control
- handkerchief
- a cloth for the nose or eyes
Band E — rare & archaic (9 entries)
- black-gloved
- wearing black gloves
- linon ×3
- the French governess of the Shtcherbatsky girls
- mustn
- must — mustn't: must not
- hoarfrost
- white frost coating
- slackening
- to slow down; loosen
- turbot ×3
- a large flat sea fish
- hasn
- has — hasn't: has not
- timidity ×2
- shy fearfulness
- unapproachable
- impossible to come near
False friends — common words wearing old senses (2)
- touching
- concerning — the old sense here
- use
- habit; custom — the old sense here
Names (10)
- arkadyevitch ×3
- a Russian patronymic, meaning son of Arkady
- shtcherbatskaya
- the family name Shtcherbatsky in its female form
- shtcherbatsky ×3
- the family name of Kitty and Dolly
- shtcherbatskys
- the Shtcherbatsky family
- stepan ×3
- a Russian man's name; also Oblonsky's first name
- hermitage ×2
- the great picture gallery of Petersburg
- levin ×26
- a landowner who farms his own estate in the country
- dolly
- the eldest Shtcherbatsky sister, married to Oblonsky
- kitty ×9
- the youngest of the Shtcherbatsky sisters
- Stepan Arkadyevitch
- Oblonsky, Anna's brother, by his first name and patronymic