Vocabulary ladder
War and Peace
Book One, III
1,485 words. Everyday vocabulary (band A) covers 61% of the text; the hard 9% is 68 entries — all of them below.
A 60.8% (297 types) B 6.6% (86 types) C 4.5% (61 entries) D 2.4% (28 entries) E 2.4% (17 entries) N 4.6% (23 entries)
Band B — common reading vocabulary
A sample of 24 of 86 — you will meet these often; they are explained only at the fullest help level.
- madame
- vacant
- narrator
- token
- willingness
- ivy
- steadily
- testify
- necklace
- uttered
- maid
- roast
- moss
- trimmed
- feminine
- glance · glanced, glancing ×3
- dulled
- wit
- admiring
- hers
- needle
- disposal
- secretly
- specially
Band C — recognition checklist
All 61 upper-intermediate words in this chapter. Tick the ones you know; the rest are explained at the fullest help level.
- pucker
- shapely
- readjust
- grimace
- peculiarly
- unquestionable
- gratefully
- unchanging
- eagerness
- politeness
- offensively
- fainting
- graciously
- modestly
- disapprove
- sugary
- incline
- anecdote
- astonished
- barbaric
- rosy
- hastily
- shrug
- startle
- perish
- relapse
- advantageous
- joyous
- agitated
- exceedingly
- inquire
- chiefly
- glossy
- enchant
- diminish
- converse
- fascination
- unnatural
- eagerly
- neatly
- radiant
- stocking
- glamour
- ballroom
- sparkle
- witty
- victorious
- conveniently
- youthful
- hum
- resemblance
- evidently
- weary
- spar
- fetch
- repay
- masculine
- upright
- whisper
- polished
- loudly
Band D — advanced (28 entries)
- dark-green
- explained by the text itself
- nice-looking
- pleasant to look at
- self-satisfied
- pleased with oneself
- workbag ×2
- a bag for sewing work
- self-confidence ×2
- confidence in oneself
- charmant
- charming — French
- careworn
- worn by worry
- simple-minded
- simple of mind
- smilingly ×2
- with a smile
- brilliancy
- bright splendor
- choicest
- finest
- gaily
- merrily
- hearers
- one who listens
- morsels
- a small tasty piece
- sullen
- silently ill-tempered
- rustle
- a soft dry whispering sound
- duc ×5
- duke — French
- merrily
- with merry cheer
- breeches
- knee-length trousers
- gleam
- a soft flash of light
- nous
- explained by the text itself
- bosom ×2
- the breast
- watchful
- keeping careful watch
- spindles
- the turning spike that twists thread
- habitual
- usual by habit
- vehemently
- with hot force
- delicacy
- a choice fine food; fine sensitivity
- plump
- round and full-fleshed
Band E — rare & archaic (17 entries)
- cuisse
- explained by the text itself
- effrayée
- explained by the text itself
- nymphe
- explained by the text itself
- well-garnished
- dressed out with trimmings
- çela
- explained by the text itself
- lorgnette
- eyeglasses held on a handle
- disinterestedly
- with no selfish stake
- coquetry
- flirting charm
- imbecility
- dull feebleness of mind
- courteously
- with polite grace
- raconteur
- a skilled teller of stories
- magnanimity ×2
- greatness of heart
- maître
- from maître d'hôtel — a head servant of the table — French
- vicomte ×14
- a French noble rank below count
- ceaselessly
- without stopping
- abbé ×6
- a French priest or tutor — French
- hôtel
- from maître d'hôtel — a head servant of the table — French
False friends — common words wearing old senses (1)
- interest
- the spectacle that draws a crowd — the old sense here
Names (16)
- bolkónskaya
- a lady of the Bolkónski family
- contez
- @skip — part of a French request in the scene
- mortemart ×2
- the French royalist émigré vicomte
- pávlovna ×15
- a patronymic — daughter of Paul; Anna Pávlovna Schérer
- vasíli
- Prince Vasíli Kurágin, the smooth court intriguer
- buonaparte
- Bonaparte — the scornful Italian spelling
- enghien ×3
- the Bourbon duke Napoleon had shot
- hippolyte ×4
- Prince Vasíli's dull elder son
- hélène ×4
- Prince Vasíli's beautiful daughter
- bonaparte ×2
- Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French
- napoleon
- Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French
- anna ×15
- a woman's name — Anna Pávlovna Schérer and others
- Anna Pávlovna
- the Petersburg hostess
- Mademoiselle George
- a famous actress of Paris
- in spite of
- despite
- maid of honor
- a court lady attending the Empress