Vocabulary in Long Day's Journey into Night

Flowing or overflowing beyond a boundary — here, laughter carrying out from one room into another, suggesting an abundance of cheerful noise that cannot be contained.

The habit of spending as little money as possible, often to an extreme degree that causes hardship for others around you.

Weakened by having water or another liquid added to it, reducing its strength — here used of whiskey that has been watered down to save money.

The method that costs the least money, implying corners were cut and quality was sacrificed rather than spending what was needed to do something properly.

An old name for tuberculosis, a serious infectious disease of the lungs that causes the body to waste away; the word was commonly used in the early twentieth century.

A return to a harmful condition — here, going back to using morphine after a period of being free from it, undoing the progress made at a treatment facility.

A state of being emotionally or mentally disconnected from the people and events around you, as though you are observing life from a distance rather than living it.

A clouded, confused mental state caused by drugs or alcohol, in which a person cannot think clearly or perceive reality accurately.

A powerful painkilling drug derived from opium that is highly addictive; in this play it is the substance Mary was given after childbirth and to which she became dependent.

A medical facility, popular in the early twentieth century, where patients with long-term illnesses — especially addiction or tuberculosis — were sent to rest and recover.

A person who hoards money and refuses to spend it even when spending is necessary or reasonable, prioritising wealth over the comfort and wellbeing of others.

Done badly or incompetently, with damaging results — here describing a medical procedure that was performed poorly because a cheap, unqualified doctor was hired.

To surrender to an overwhelming feeling or force — here, to stop resisting despair and allow grief or hopelessness to take over completely.

Without any possibility of improvement or rescue; describing a situation so bad that no good outcome can be expected.

Seeming to belong to a dream or fantasy rather than actual life; here used to describe the way morphine and fog together dissolve the sharp edges of reality.

A state of pleasant but absent-minded daydreaming in which a person is lost in memories or fantasies and barely aware of what is happening around them.

A card game played alone, in which one person lays out cards and tries to arrange them according to set rules; here it signals James's isolation and habit of withdrawing into himself.

A loud horn sounded by ships or coastal stations in foggy weather as a warning signal; in the play its repeated moan becomes a sound associated with isolation and dread.

Lost all sense of individual self and merged completely into something larger — here describing a mystical feeling of becoming one with the sea, the sky, and the ship.

Water scattered into the air in fine droplets by waves breaking against a ship's hull or bow; used here as an image of wild, free natural energy.

Faintly lit by stars that are barely visible — suggesting a sky so vast and remote that its stars give only a weak, distant light.

Used here not literally but as a strong term of contempt and fury, intensifying an insult to express the depth of the speaker's rage and wounded love.

Used here as a fierce term of abuse directed at someone the speaker both loves and resents, expressing the mixture of deep affection and bitter anger that runs through the play.

A community of nuns living under religious vows; here it refers to the Catholic school where Mary was educated and where she first dreamed of becoming a nun.

Thinking or talking with pleasure about past events and experiences, often with a sense of longing for a time that cannot be recovered.