Vocabulary ladder
War and Peace
Book One, XV
1,501 words. Everyday vocabulary (band A) covers 58% of the text; the hard 8% is 51 entries — all of them below.
A 58.4% (290 types) B 7.4% (91 types) C 3.8% (48 entries) D 1.1% (16 entries) E 0.5% (8 entries) N 6.3% (27 entries)
Band B — common reading vocabulary
A sample of 24 of 91 — you will meet these often; they are explained only at the fullest help level.
- assurance
- dyed
- lace
- niece ×2
- thoughtful
- sincere
- carriage ×2
- niches
- porch
- uttering
- swallowing
- unaware
- upstairs
- stern
- glance
- affection
- occupying
- regiment
- profound
- absurd
- lightly
- porter ×3
- straw
- arranging
Band C — recognition checklist
All 48 upper-intermediate words in this chapter. Tick the ones you know; the rest are explained at the fullest help level.
- footman
- sympathetically
- godson
- coldly
- tenderly
- hasten
- strikingly
- gambler
- soothe
- armchair
- frowned
- ascend
- attentive
- reassure
- annoyance
- shrug
- indifference
- affectionate
- plainly
- err
- betray
- excellency
- godfather
- politely
- respectfully
- humiliation
- disturb
- cloak
- priceless
- silently
- evidently
- mantle
- query
- courtyard
- pronounce
- peculiar
- stimulate
- severity
- downstairs
- devotion
- sorrow
- upright
- whisper
- await
- conquer
- relieve
- velvet
- invalid
Band D — advanced (16 entries)
- dark-haired
- with dark hair
- errare
- explained by the text itself
- unlicked
- an unlicked bear — a raw, unpolished fellow
- inquiringly
- with a questioning look
- unconcern
- easy absence of worry
- questioningly
- with a questioning look
- good-looking
- handsome
- swallow-tail
- a coat with long divided tails
- briskly
- with quick energy
- scrutinizing
- to examine closely
- breeches
- knee-length trousers
- censure
- blame; disapproval
- monotonous
- unchanging and dull
- exclaimed ×2
- to cry out
- perplexed
- puzzled
- rouse
- stirred up; awakened
Band E — rare & archaic (8 entries)
- trodden-down
- worn down at the heel
- imploringly
- begging with looks
- humanum
- explained by the text itself
- sullenly
- in gloomy ill humor
- ambling
- a smooth, easy walking pace
- frill
- edged with lace folds
- timidly
- with shy fear
- brusque
- blunt; abrupt
False friends — common words wearing old senses (3)
- awful
- full of awe — the old sense here
- peculiar
- its own; particular — the old sense here
- use
- habit; custom — the old sense here
Names (18)
- bezúkhov ×2
- the family name of Pierre, the novel's hero
- borís ×13
- Borís Drubetskóy, the ambitious young officer
- drubetskáya
- Princess Anna Mikháylovna Drubetskáya, Borís' scheming mother
- ilyá
- Count Ilyá Rostóv, the open-handed old count
- mikháylovna ×15
- a patronymic — daughter of Michael
- pávlovna
- a patronymic — daughter of Paul; Anna Pávlovna Schérer
- rostóv ×2
- the family name of Nicholas, Natásha, and Pétya
- rostóva ×2
- a lady of the Rostóv family
- rostóvs
- the warm-hearted Moscow family at the novel's center
- schérer
- Anna Pávlovna Schérer, the Petersburg hostess
- sergéevich ×2
- a patronymic — son of Sergéy
- shinshiná
- a lady of the Shinshín family
- vasíli ×13
- Prince Vasíli Kurágin, the smooth court intriguer
- vladímirovich ×3
- a patronymic — son of Vladímir
- nataly ×2
- Natásha — French form
- lorrain
- the fashionable French doctor
- anna ×17
- a woman's name — Anna Pávlovna Schérer and others
- Anna Pávlovna
- the Petersburg hostess