Vocabulary in Sharp Objects

To cut or tear flesh deeply, often deliberately. In this text it refers to self-inflicted cutting wounds on the narrator's skin.

The act of deliberately injuring one's own body, used here to describe the narrator's compulsive cutting behavior as a coping mechanism.

To hide one's true feelings or intentions behind a false appearance; to conceal the truth through deceptive behavior.

Excessively and weakly sentimental, often in a tearful or self-pitying way, especially in a manner that feels embarrassing or overdone.

Politely refined and respectable in a way that is often superficial or exaggerated, used here to describe the forced social propriety of Wind Gap's upper-class families.

Belonging to or characteristic of the upper class; having an air of aristocratic superiority and old-money refinement.

Excessively flattering or agreeable in a way that feels insincere and oily; trying too hard to please in a way that seems fake.

Feverishly excited or agitated; characterized by a restless, feverish energy that feels unstable or overwrought.

A state of physical or mental weariness and lack of energy; a heavy, listless exhaustion that makes it hard to act or feel motivated.

Resembling or characteristic of a pig, used here as a physical description suggesting a heavy, fleshy, or coarse appearance.

Unpleasantly smooth and ingratiating in manner; excessively oily or fawning in a way that provokes distrust.

A psychological disorder in which a caregiver fabricates or induces illness in someone under their care, typically a child, in order to gain attention or sympathy.

A young upper-class woman making her formal entrance into society, often at a lavish ball; used here to evoke the rigid social rituals of Southern elite culture.

Behaving in a flirtatious, playfully teasing way intended to attract attention or admiration, often in a calculated or manipulative manner.

Causing or feeling a sleepy, drowsy heaviness; having a slow, sluggish quality that induces a half-awake state.

Relating to a mental state in which a person feels detached from their own thoughts, feelings, or surroundings, as if observing themselves from outside.

Having a strong, very unpleasant smell; reeking of decay or rot.

A person who never drinks alcohol at all, used here in contrast to characters whose heavy drinking is a central part of their behavior.

Using very few words; brief and blunt in speech in a way that can seem cold or withholding.

To suggest something unpleasant or accusatory in an indirect, subtle way rather than stating it openly.

Slovenly and untidy in appearance or habits; having the look of someone who is dirty and carelessly dressed, often with a moral judgment implied.

Beyond what is normal or natural; so unusual as to seem almost supernatural or uncanny.

Feeling or showing sincere regret and sorrow for having done something wrong; genuinely remorseful.

Shorthand for Munchausen syndrome, a disorder in which a person fakes or induces illness in themselves or others to attract sympathy and medical attention.

A release of strong, pent-up emotion that brings relief or purification, used here in the context of the narrator's psychological unraveling and confrontation with trauma.