English KS4 Vocab

English Literature

Romeo and Juliet

Antagonistic

Showing or feeling active opposition or hostility towards someone or something

Dominance

Power and influence over others

Patriarchy

A system of society or governments in which father or eldest male is head of the family

Mercurial

Sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind

Feminine

Having qualities or an appearance traditionally associated with women or girls

Destined

(Of a person’s future) regarded as developing as though according to a pre-existing plan

Defiant

Showing defiance (a defiant gesture)

Headstrong

Unruly – one’s own way

Vengeful

Seeking to harm someone in return for a perceived injury

Constrained

Appearing forced or overly controlled, restricted

Romantic

Conducive to or characterised by the expression of love. An idealised view of reality

Submissive

To confirm to authority or will of others

Loyalty

Quality of being loyal, support, faithful

A Christmas Carol

Parsimonious

Very unwilling to spend money or use resources, miserly

Avaricious

Having or showing an extreme greed for wealth or material gain

Covetous

Having or showing a great desire to possess something belonging to someone else

Isolated

Far away from other places, buildings or people, remote

Misanthropic

Having or showing a dislike of other people, unsociable

Philanthropic

Seeking to promote, welfare of others, generous, charitable

Vulnerable

Exposed to possibility of being harmed physically, emotionally, risk of abuse, neglect

Dismal

A mood of gloom or depression – gloomy, glum

Gothic

Mystery, horror and gloom

Submissive

Ready to conform to authority or will of others, compliant

Charitable

Assistance of those in need, judge others leniently

An Inspector Calls

Prejudiced

Having or showing a dislike or distrust, bigoted, biased

Unsympathetic

Not showing or expressing sympathy, uncaring, unconcerned

Exploitative

Making use of a situation or treating others unfairly in order to gain/benefit

Conceited

Excessively proud of oneself, vain

Condescending

Attitude of patronising superiority

Materialistic

Excessively concerned with material possessions – money-oriented

Ignorant

Lacking knowledge, rude, impolite

Obstinate

Stubbornly refusing to change opinion/action, headstrong

Infantize

Treat as a child, in a way that denies their maturity

Oppressed

Treated cruelly or prevented from having some opportunities/freedom

Petulant

Childishly sulky or bad-tempered

Authoritative

Able to be trusted as being accurate or true, reliable, dependable

English Language

Simile

Comparing something using like or as. He was as fast as a cheetah.

Metaphor

Saying something is something else; a direct comparison, not meant literally. i.e. He was a cheetah on the racetrack

Extended

Metaphor exactly the same as a normal metaphor, but you’ll see the same idea repeating over multiple sentences, lines, paragraphs (or stanzas). Think: You’re a lion. When you speak, you roar. You’re the king of the jungle, the bravest of the beasts.

Personification (or Anthropomorphism)

Applying human characteristics to objects, Gods or things. i.e. the angry sea. (Zoomorphism is when you give humans (or other things!) animal features, i.e. he growled with wolfish hunger).

Pathetic fallacy

When human characteristics are applied to things (often found in nature), i.e. the “angry sky” or “the wind whispered through the trees”. Usually done to set the tone or reflect the mood of characters.

Alliteration

When the first letter of a word is repeated more than once. Alice always alliterates.

Assonance

Repeating vowel sounds (not necessarily rhyming though) – the house is out-rowed with the louts and crows

Anecdote

A short story from personal experience. Like that time, you missed the bus, got soaked in the rain, then had to cycle all the way to school. You know?

Irony

Something contrary to what you might expect. Alanis Morissette knows it (or not, as the case may be).

Onomatopoeia

Words that sound like what they are. Bang, clap, thud….etc.

Sibilance

A repeated ‘s’ sound – either at the start, or in the middle of words (N.B. ‘c’ can sometimes sound like an s!)

Colloquial

Language informal or slang words and phrases (i.e. just how you’d speak everyday!). Think wanna rather than “want to”.