Vocabulary ladder
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
STORY OF THE DOOR
2,433 words. Everyday vocabulary (band A) covers 64% of the text; the hard 4% is 71 entries — all of them below.
A 63.7% (443 types) B 4.4% (99 types) C 3.3% (70 entries) D 1.9% (44 entries) E 0.5% (13 entries) N 1.6% (14 entries)
Band B — common reading vocabulary
A sample of 24 of 99 — you will meet these often; they are explained only at the fullest help level.
- prolonged
- discourse
- ivy
- envy
- thrust
- damned
- forehead
- surplus
- disliked
- stiff
- affections
- hail
- bore
- implied
- dull
- neighbourhood
- bargain
- sighed
- feat
- modest
- sentiment
- collared
- nut
- brasses
Band C — recognition checklist
All 70 upper-intermediate words in this chapter. Tick the ones you know; the rest are explained at the fullest help level.
- musing
- singularly
- misdeed
- coolness
- dingy
- eminently
- caper
- moulding
- thoroughfare
- hellish
- incline
- forgery
- deform
- schoolboy
- tramp
- lovable
- partake
- eastward
- uninterrupted
- cleanliness
- weekday
- excursion
- scarcely
- heresy
- mischief
- downright
- inquire
- reputable
- bearer
- blackmail
- stump
- stink
- shutter
- cheque
- bland
- payable
- comparatively
- hateful
- recess
- acquaintance
- chimney
- calmly
- affirmative
- procession
- cellar
- rugged
- sinister
- freshly
- scarce
- storey
- thriving
- negligence
- circumstance
- remark
- veil
- dusty
- gin
- jewel
- helpless
- whipped
- backward
- presently
- undertake
- frightened
- policeman
- cane
- vein
- drawer
- specify
- loudly
Band D — advanced (44 entries)
- after-dinner
- after dinner
- beaconed
- shone out like a beacon
- by-street ×2
- a small side street
- good-nature
- kindly temper
- well-polished
- polished well
- downgoing
- downgoing: going downhill in life
- aptness
- fitness
- well-known
- explained by the text itself
- reprove
- to scold; correct
- discoloured
- to stain; to change colour
- damnable
- deserving damnation
- ready-made
- already made
- displeasing
- to annoy; fail to please
- inexact
- not exact
- saleswomen
- a woman who sells
- bagpipe
- the Scottish wind instrument
- knocker
- the metal ring for knocking on a door
- florid
- showy; highly coloured
- harpies
- a fierce grasping woman; a monster of fable
- gaiety
- merry brightness
- apocryphal
- of doubtful truth
- kinsman
- a male relative
- slouched
- to move with a lazy bent body
- sneering ×2
- a look or tone of scorn
- demeanour
- one's outward manner
- apothecary
- a maker and seller of medicines
- couldn
- could — couldn't: could not
- ravages
- damage
- proprieties
- proper correct behavior
- wasn
- was — wasn't: was not
- deformity
- twisted or ugly shape
- rambles
- a walk for pleasure
- countenance
- the face; composure
- abreast
- side by side
- sordid
- dirty and mean
- austere
- stern and severe
- blistered
- a sore bubble on the skin
- extremity
- the farthest end; the last resort
- isn
- is — isn't: is not
- trampled
- stamped down under foot
- dreary
- gloomy and dull
- gable
- the pointed end wall of a building
- loathing
- deep disgust
- delicacy
- a choice fine food; fine sensitivity
Band E — rare & archaic (13 entries)
- distained
- distained: stained
- emulously
- in rivalry
- halloa
- explained by the text itself
- tut-tut
- explained by the text itself
- sullenness
- moody silent ill temper
- undemonstrative
- not showing feeling
- coquetry
- flirting charm
- pedantically
- with fussy over-exactness
- catholicity
- broad wideness
- mortify
- to wound someone's pride
- quaintly
- oddly and pleasantly
- scanty
- barely enough; thin
- detestable
- hateful
False friends — common words wearing old senses (3)
- passage
- a sea-journey — the old sense here
- state
- ceremony; pomp — the old sense here
- use
- habit; custom — the old sense here
Names (5)
- utterson ×11
- Mr Utterson, the dry careful lawyer through whose eyes we watch
- enfield ×10
- Richard Enfield, Utterson's distant kinsman, the man about town
- Queer Street
- an old saying: in trouble, especially money trouble
- Richard Enfield
- Utterson's distant kinsman, the man about town
- Sawbones
- slang for a surgeon