- viciousadjectiveChapter 1 →
Dangerously sharp and capable of causing harm; here describing teeth that are cruel and aggressive by nature, not merely as a figure of speech.
“She was born with a full set of small, vicious teeth.”
- guidancenounChapter 1 →
A sign or answer from God telling a person what to do; the kind of divine direction a minister would pray to receive in a moment of crisis.
“Frex could not look at the child. He turned away and prayed for guidance, but no guidance came.”
- beside the pointphraseChapter 2 →
Irrelevant to what actually matters; something that exists but has no real bearing on the situation at hand.
“She had not known that beauty could be so beside the point.”
- distinctionnounChapter 2 →
A meaningful difference between two things that seem similar on the surface; here, the gap between being noticed and being truly understood.
“To be seen was not the same as being known, and in Gillikin the distinction felt like a wound.”
- performancenounChapter 3 →
A deliberate display put on for an audience rather than a genuine expression; acting out power to make others believe it is real.
“the world rewards the performance of power more than its substance.”
- substancenounChapter 3 →
The real, solid content of something as opposed to its outward show; actual power rather than the appearance of it.
“the world rewards the performance of power more than its substance.”
- unripeadjectiveChapter 3 →
Not yet fully developed or ready; used here to suggest something immature, incomplete, or not yet fit for its intended purpose.
“Green is the color of envy, of sickness, of unripe things—and here they had built an entire city of it and called it glory.”
- envynounChapter 3 →
A bitter feeling of wanting what someone else has, often mixed with resentment toward the person who has it.
“Green is the color of envy, of sickness, of unripe things.”
- confessverbChapter 4 →
To formally admit a wrong or sin to another person, seeking relief from guilt by speaking the truth aloud.
“She had come to confess, and Sarima would not hear it. There was nowhere left to put the guilt.”
- interrogatedverbChapter 4 →
Questioned sharply and relentlessly, as an authority figure presses a suspect; here used to describe the wind as something that demands answers rather than offering comfort.
“The wind in the Vinkus did not comfort. It interrogated.”
- administrativeadjectiveChapter 5 →
Carried out in a routine, businesslike manner without emotion; here describing a killing treated as a cold procedural act rather than a dramatic event.
- clinicaladjectiveChapter 5 →
Detached and precise, as if observing a medical procedure; describing a tone that is deliberately stripped of feeling or sentiment.
- starkadjectiveChapter 5 →
Bare and harsh, with nothing softened or hidden; a stark depiction leaves out all decoration and shows only the plain, hard facts.
- melodramaticadjectiveChapter 5 →
Exaggerated in emotion or theatrical effect beyond what the situation calls for; sensational in a way that feels false or overblown.
- grandeurnounChapter 5 →
Impressive greatness or splendor; gothic grandeur would be a dark, gloomy magnificence associated with horror and high drama.
- gothicadjectiveChapter 5 →
Relating to a style of storytelling marked by darkness, decay, mystery, and heightened emotion, often set in gloomy or ancient surroundings.
- secludedadjectiveChapter 1 →
Hidden away from other people and places; isolated and difficult to reach, with little contact with the outside world.
- aristocraticadjectiveChapter 2 →
Belonging to or characteristic of the highest social class, which holds inherited wealth and privilege and considers itself superior to others.
- manicuredadjectiveChapter 2 →
Trimmed and maintained with great care and precision; describing land or gardens kept in a perfectly neat, controlled state to signal wealth.
- self-satisfiedadjectiveChapter 2 →
Smugly pleased with oneself and one's own situation, without any desire to question or improve it.
- disorientingadjectiveChapter 3 →
Causing confusion about where you are or what is real; making it hard to get your bearings in an unfamiliar or overwhelming environment.
- relentlessadjectiveChapter 3 →
Never stopping or letting up; continuing without pause or mercy, regardless of the effect on those who must endure it.
- ancestraladjectiveChapter 4 →
Belonging to or inherited from one's ancestors; connected to a family's long history in a particular place or among a particular people.
- expansiveadjectiveChapter 4 →
Covering a very wide area; vast and open, with a sense of space that can feel either freeing or overwhelming.
WickedNovel by Gregory Maguire