- unhistoricadjectiveChapter 1 →
Not recorded in history books; describing lives and deeds that are real and significant but never celebrated publicly or remembered by later generations.
“The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts”
- ardentadjectiveChapter 1 →
Having very strong, passionate feelings or enthusiasm; intensely eager and sincere rather than cool or indifferent.
“She was open, ardent, and not in the least self-admiring”
- adornedverbChapter 1 →
Here, decorated or beautified in the imagination; mentally dressed up someone else with qualities and charms that may not actually exist.
“her imagination adorned her sister Celia with attractions altogether superior to her own”
- contemporaneouslyadverbChapter 1 →
At the same time as something else; happening together rather than one before the other.
“a consciousness of need in my own life had arisen contemporaneously with the possibility”
- correspondencenounChapter 1 →
A meaningful connection or parallel between two separate things, suggesting they share a deeper relationship beyond mere coincidence.
“the recognition of some deeper correspondence than that of date”
- diffusiveadjectiveChapter 1 →
Spreading widely and gradually in all directions; here describing an influence that quietly reaches many people without being concentrated in one dramatic act.
“the effect of her action on those around her was incalculably diffusive”
- incalculablyadverbChapter 1 →
To a degree that cannot be measured or counted; so vast or subtle that no number could capture it.
“the effect of her action on those around her was incalculably diffusive”
- keenadjectiveChapter 2 →
Sharply perceptive and sensitive; able to notice and feel things with great intensity and precision.
“If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life”
- reciprocaladjectiveChapter 2 →
Mutual and shared equally between two parties; each side experiencing or doing the same thing toward the other.
“they must learn to accommodate each other and bear reciprocal impediments”
- impedimentsnounChapter 2 →
Obstacles or hindrances that block progress or make something harder; here, the inner conflicts and contradictions that slow a person down.
“they must learn to accommodate each other and bear reciprocal impediments”
- arduousadjectiveChapter 3 →
Demanding great effort and endurance; difficult and exhausting to carry out or achieve.
“the complicated probabilities of an arduous purpose”
- approbationnounChapter 4 →
Formal approval or praise; a feeling of satisfaction that someone is doing the right thing.
“He had formerly observed with approbation her capacity for worshipping the right object”
- candidadjectiveChapter 4 →
In Middlemarch usage, bluntly pointing out other people's faults or poor prospects under the guise of honesty, rather than the usual sense of open sincerity.
“To be candid, in Middlemarch phraseology, meant, to use an early opportunity of letting your friends know that you did not take a cheerful view”
- phraseologynounChapter 4 →
The particular set of words and expressions habitually used by a group or community; the local way of saying things.
“To be candid, in Middlemarch phraseology, meant, to use an early opportunity”
- codicilnounChapter 5 →
An addition or amendment made to an existing will that changes or adds to its instructions, without replacing the whole document.
“he might have felt that the codicil was a more pitiable monument of small fears”
- shroudedverbChapter 5 →
Covered or hidden completely, as if wrapped in a cloth; here, concealed from view so that others cannot see what lies beneath.
“Casaubon's nature had been shrouded in that jealous unease which is the shadow of a dying love”
- reposeverbChapter 5 →
To rest or find comfort and peace in something; here, to feel settled and secure in another person's pleasure or approval.
“never able to repose on his delight in what she was”
- pitiableadjectiveChapter 5 →
Deserving of pity rather than admiration; so small or sad in its nature that it inspires sympathy or mild contempt.
“the codicil was a more pitiable monument of small fears”
- theoreticadjectiveChapter 7 →
Belonging to stated beliefs or principles rather than actual practice; what a person claims to believe as opposed to what they actually do.
“a man whose desires had been stronger than his theoretic beliefs”
- gratificationnounChapter 7 →
The satisfaction of a desire or appetite; the pleasure gained from getting what one wants.
“gradually explained the gratification of his desires into satisfactory agreement with those beliefs”
- doctrinenounChapter 7 →
A set of principles or beliefs taught as authoritative truth, especially in religion or philosophy, and applied as a rule for conduct.
“There is no general doctrine which is not capable of eating out our morality if unchecked”
- fellow-feelingnounChapter 7 →
A natural sympathy and sense of shared humanity with other people; the instinct to feel what others feel because you recognise yourself in them.
“the deep-seated habit of direct fellow-feeling with individual fellow-men”
- deep-seatedadjectiveChapter 7 →
Firmly established far below the surface; describing a habit, feeling, or belief so thoroughly rooted that it cannot easily be removed or overridden.
“unchecked by the deep-seated habit of direct fellow-feeling with individual fellow-men”
- faithfullyadverbChapter 8 →
With steady loyalty and dedication, without wavering; here, living out one's values quietly and consistently even without recognition.
“half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life”
MiddlemarchNovel by George Eliot