- copperingverbChapter 1 →
Coating or tinting with a reddish-brown color, the way copper metal looks. Here it describes the way the setting sun stains a person's face with a warm, reddish glow.
“He rode with the sun coppering his face and the red wind blowing out of the west across the evening land”
- sentientadjectiveChapter 1 →
Capable of feeling or perceiving things. Here it means the world itself is imagined as a living, aware being — yet one that has no awareness of or concern for human beings.
“He said that the world was sentient and had no notion of them.”
- shedverbChapter 1 →
To get rid of or let go of something, the way a snake sheds its skin. Here it means to give up or abandon a deeply held belief or way of thinking.
“it was not a thought arrived at easily and it was not a thought easily shed”
- notionnounChapter 1 →
An awareness, idea, or understanding of something. Here it means the world has no knowledge of or regard for the people living in it.
“He said that the world was sentient and had no notion of them.”
- vaquerosnounChapter 2 →
Spanish-speaking cowboys who herd cattle on horseback, a tradition rooted in Mexico and the American Southwest. The word is the Spanish equivalent of 'cowboy.'
- in trustphraseChapter 2 →
Given to someone to care for responsibly on behalf of another, as when property is legally held for a beneficiary. Here it means a person's life is a gift they are obligated to use well, not waste.
“a person's life was not a thing to be thrown away and that it was given to them in trust and they were expected to do something with it”
- gravel barnounChapter 2 →
A flat, shallow ridge of gravel deposited by a river, often rising just above the waterline. Riders can cross a river by following these natural, firm-bottomed shallows.
“they rode out onto a gravel bar and crossed the river and rode up through the willows”
- swarmedverbChapter 2 →
Moved together in a dense, shifting mass, the way bees swarm. Here it describes the stars appearing to crowd and swirl thickly across the night sky.
“the stars swarmed around them out of the blackness”
- ruralesnounChapter 3 →
Rural police or mounted law-enforcement officers in Mexico, historically known for harsh, summary justice in the countryside. In the novel they act as a brutal arm of local authority.
- penitentiarynounChapter 3 →
A large, state-run prison for people convicted of serious crimes. In the novel it refers to the harsh Mexican prison where John Grady and Rawlins are sent after their arrest.
- ruthlessadjectiveChapter 3 →
Having absolutely no pity or mercy; willing to do whatever is necessary without softening the blow. Here it describes the way reality coldly destroys dreams without any regard for human feeling.
“The world is quite ruthless in selecting between the dream and the reality, even where we will not.”
- honornounChapter 3 →
A person's reputation for moral uprightness and respectability in the eyes of their community. In this passage it is treated as something men can lose and recover, but women permanently forfeit.
“A man may lose his honor and regain it again. But a woman cannot.”
- regainverbChapter 3 →
To get something back after losing it. Here it contrasts men's ability to recover their social standing with women's permanent loss of reputation.
“A man may lose his honor and regain it again. But a woman cannot.”
- ruinedadjectiveChapter 4 →
Describing a woman whose sexual reputation has been destroyed in the eyes of her society, leaving her with no prospect of recovering her social standing or making a respectable marriage.
“A ruined woman is just a ruined woman.”
- brackennounChapter 4 →
A coarse, weedy type of fern that grows in dry, open country and turns brown and brittle in drought. Here it signals the parched, scrubby desert landscape the rider is passing through.
“the small desert birds flew chittering among the dry bracken and the sun was gone”
- chitteringverbChapter 4 →
Making rapid, high-pitched twittering or chattering sounds, as small birds do when they flock and move together. The word captures the quick, nervous noise of desert birds in flight.
“the small desert birds flew chittering among the dry bracken and the sun was gone”
- patronnounChapter 2 →
The owner and master of a large Mexican estate or hacienda, who holds authority over the workers and land. The word carries a sense of feudal power and social hierarchy.
- haciendanounChapter 2 →
A large landed estate in a Spanish-speaking country, typically including a main house, farmland, and the workers who live and labor there. It represents wealth, tradition, and social power.
- ransomsverbChapter 4 →
Pays money or meets a condition to secure the release of a person being held captive. Here it means Alfonsa buys the boys' freedom from prison in exchange for John Grady's promise to leave Alejandra.
- assassinnounChapter 4 →
A person hired or sent to murder a specific individual, often secretly. In the novel it refers to the knife-wielding prisoner paid to kill John Grady inside the penitentiary.
All the Pretty HorsesNovel by Cormac McCarthy