- disarraynounChapter 1 →
A state of complete disorder and confusion, where normal routines and relationships have broken down and nothing is functioning as it should.
- to blamephraseChapter 1 →
Responsible or at fault for something bad that has happened; deserving of criticism or punishment for a wrongdoing.
“He felt that he was not to blame, but that was not the point.”
- pluckedverbChapter 2 →
Pulled or picked something — here a flower — from where it was growing, removing it from its natural place and thereby ending its life.
“He looked at her as a man looks at a flower he has plucked, which is beginning to fade and lose its fragrance.”
- fragrancenounChapter 2 →
A sweet, pleasant smell, used here as a metaphor for the appealing, delicate quality of a person's charm that can fade over time.
“a flower he has plucked, which is beginning to fade and lose its fragrance”
- notionsnounChapter 2 →
Personal beliefs, opinions, or ideas about how things are or ought to be, especially regarding social or moral conduct.
“Jealousy, according to his notions, was an insult to one's wife, and one ought to have confidence in one's wife.”
- confidencenounChapter 2 →
Trust and firm belief in someone's honesty and faithfulness, especially within a marriage or close relationship.
“one ought to have confidence in one's wife”
- scythenounChapter 3 →
A large farming tool with a long curved blade on a long handle, swung by hand to cut grass or grain in a field.
“those moments of oblivion when his arms no longer seemed to swing the scythe, but the scythe itself his whole body”
- oblivionnounChapter 3 →
A state of being completely unaware of one's surroundings and self, a kind of blissful mental blankness reached through total absorption in physical work.
“the oftener he experienced those moments of oblivion when his arms no longer seemed to swing the scythe”
- mowingverbChapter 3 →
Cutting grass or grain with a scythe or similar tool, here done by hand alongside peasant farm workers in a field.
“The longer Levin went on mowing, the oftener he experienced those moments of oblivion”
- acting a partphraseChapter 3 →
Pretending to be something one is not, performing a false role rather than behaving naturally and sincerely.
“She was not acting a part, she was genuinely, simply good, and Kitty felt this and was ashamed of her own performance.”
- wickedadjectiveChapter 4 →
Morally bad or sinful; having done things that violate accepted standards of right behavior, especially in matters of faithfulness and honesty.
“I am a wicked woman, but I am the same woman I was; I am not deceiving you.”
- robbed of lifephraseChapter 4 →
Stripped of vitality and existence; killed or destroyed, used here to describe love that has been extinguished by a person's own actions.
“He felt what a murderer must feel when he looks at the body he has robbed of life.”
- expatriatenounChapter 5 →
A person living in a foreign country, away from their homeland, often as part of a community of fellow nationals abroad.
- solemnitynounChapter 5 →
A serious, dignified, and deeply felt quality of manner or expression, suggesting that a moment carries great personal importance.
“He looked at her, and was struck by the joyful solemnity of her expression.”
- frictionsnounChapter 5 →
Small disagreements, tensions, or points of conflict between people living closely together, the minor irritations of shared daily life.
“All the prettiness of their life together, all its small frictions, were more real to him than anything he had imagined love to be.”
- dissatisfiedadjectiveChapter 6 →
Feeling that something is not good enough or that one has fallen short; not content with oneself or one's situation.
“he was dissatisfied with himself, though he could not have said why”
- code of rulesphraseChapter 6 →
A personal set of firm principles and standards of conduct that a person follows to decide what is acceptable and what is not.
“Vronsky's life was particularly happy in that he had a code of rules which defined without any doubt what ought and what ought not to be done.”
- ostracizesverbChapter 6 →
Excludes someone from a social group, refusing to accept or associate with them as a form of collective punishment for breaking social rules.
- mistressnounChapter 7 →
A woman who has a long-term romantic and sexual relationship with a man who is not her husband, outside the bounds of marriage.
“If I could be anything but his mistress, passionately caring for nothing but his caresses — but I can't and I don't want to be anything else.”
- caressesnounChapter 7 →
Gentle, affectionate touches or embraces; physical expressions of love and tenderness between two people.
“If I could be anything but his mistress, passionately caring for nothing but his caresses”
- fadedadjectiveChapter 7 →
Having lost its original brightness, beauty, or freshness; diminished in appeal or vitality compared to what it once was.
- inopportunelyadverbChapter 8 →
At the wrong moment; saying or doing something at a time that is awkward, inconvenient, or likely to cause trouble.
“I shall still argue and express my thoughts inopportunely; there will still be the same wall between the holy of holies of my soul and other people.”
- holy of holiesphraseChapter 8 →
The innermost, most sacred and private part of a person's soul or self, borrowed from the term for the most sacred chamber of the ancient Jewish Temple.
“there will still be the same wall between the holy of holies of my soul and other people”
- unquestionableadjectiveChapter 8 →
Completely certain and beyond any doubt; not open to challenge or dispute, here describing a meaning in life that feels absolutely sure.
“every minute of it, is not only not meaningless as it was before, but has the unquestionable meaning of the good”
Anna KareninaNovel by Leo Tolstoy