- gravitynounChapter 1 →
The full seriousness or weight of a situation — how bad and consequential it truly is, not just physically heavy.
“before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.”
- fatal flawphraseChapter 1 →
A deep, built-in weakness in a person's character that ultimately causes their ruin or downfall, no matter what else they do right.
“Does such a thing as 'the fatal flaw,' that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature?”
- showyadjectiveChapter 1 →
Conspicuous and impossible to ignore; here used to describe a flaw that is dramatic and on full display rather than hidden.
“that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life”
- consolatoryadjectiveChapter 3 →
Offering comfort or relief to someone who is sad or troubled; soothing in a gentle, reassuring way.
“Beauty is rarely soft or consolatory. Quite the contrary.”
- alarmingadjectiveChapter 3 →
Causing a sudden feeling of fear or shock; here used to mean that true beauty is unsettling and almost frightening rather than pleasant.
“Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.”
- assessedverbChapter 3 →
Carefully judged or evaluated — here, having one's qualities and suitability sized up by someone deciding whether to accept you.
“I had the sense that I was being watched, and assessed, and that the outcome of this assessment mattered more than I could say.”
- treading on thin icephraseChapter 4 →
Moving into a risky situation where one wrong step could cause serious trouble; behaving in a way that is dangerously close to a bad outcome.
“I had the sense that I was treading on thin ice, that beneath the surface of our conversation lay something cold and very deep.”
- DionysiacadjectiveChapter 5 →
Relating to Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of wine and wild celebration; used here to describe rituals or states of mind marked by total abandon, frenzy, and loss of self-control.
“'The Dionysiac principle is one of chaos and ecstasy,' Henry said.”
- ecstasynounChapter 5 →
An overwhelming state of wild joy or frenzy so intense that a person loses normal awareness and self-control; here tied to ancient ritual rather than simple happiness.
“'The Dionysiac principle is one of chaos and ecstasy,' Henry said.”
- embodyverbChapter 5 →
To give a living, physical form to an idea or principle; to become the living expression of something abstract.
“'We were only trying to embody it. We didn't expect it to embody us.'”
- contemptnounChapter 7 →
A strong feeling that someone or something is worthless and beneath you; complete scorn or disrespect.
“Bunny was the sort of person who could make you feel… that you were both his dearest friend and the object of his most profound contempt.”
- profoundadjectiveChapter 7 →
Extremely deep and intense; used here to stress that the contempt felt is not casual but total and deeply felt.
“the object of his most profound contempt.”
- performingverbChapter 7 →
Putting on an act; presenting a carefully constructed version of yourself to others rather than behaving naturally or honestly.
“We were all of us, I think, performing some version of ourselves that we hoped the others would accept as real.”
- extraordinaryadjectiveChapter 10 →
Far outside the range of normal experience; shocking or remarkable in a way that should never feel routine.
“It's a strange thing, how quickly the extraordinary becomes ordinary.”
- without embarrassmentphraseChapter 10 →
Openly and without any self-consciousness or shame; not holding back or hiding one's emotions out of social awkwardness.
“The Corcorans wept without embarrassment, which none of us could do.”
- transparentadjectiveChapter 13 →
Completely see-through in terms of one's own motives and feelings; unable to hide one's true thoughts or character even from oneself.
“It's a terrible thing to be so transparent to oneself.”
- partners in crimephraseChapter 13 →
People bound together not by genuine friendship but by shared guilt over something wrong they have done together; here used literally as well as figuratively.
“we had somehow, without noticing it, ceased to be friends and become something more like partners in crime.”
- ceasedverbChapter 13 →
Stopped completely; come to an end, with no suggestion of resuming.
“we had somehow, without noticing it, ceased to be friends”
- capable of anythingphraseChapter 13 →
Having no moral limits that would stop a person from doing even the most extreme or terrible act; utterly unpredictable in the worst sense.
“I understood, not for the first time, that he was capable of anything.”
- sensationnounChapter 14 →
A strong inner feeling or impression that comes over a person, here describing a sudden, vivid awareness of danger and vulnerability.
“I had the sensation, not for the first time, of being a sleepwalker who wakes to find himself on a very high, very narrow ledge.”
- sleepwalkernounChapter 14 →
Here used figuratively: someone who has drifted through events without full awareness, only suddenly realising the peril of their position.
“I had the sensation, not for the first time, of being a sleepwalker who wakes to find himself on a very high, very narrow ledge.”
- ledgenounChapter 14 →
A narrow shelf of rock or a projecting surface on a cliff face; used here as a metaphor for an extremely precarious and dangerous position.
“of being a sleepwalker who wakes to find himself on a very high, very narrow ledge.”
The Secret HistoryNovel by Donna Tartt