Although short, The Pearl by John Steinbeck can be a challenging read. A great way to expand your vocabulary is to read a book with words that you don't know yet. In that way, reading The Pearl can be a helpful exercise. Here's a vocabulary list from John Steinbeck by chapter.
Chapter 1
- avarice - greed
- bougainvillea - a type of tropical flower
- consolation - to comfort
- detachment - lack of concern or attachment
- indigent - poor; impoverished
- lymphatic - tissue where white blood cells are produced
- scandal - shameful
- ulcers - open sores
Chapter 2
- bulwark - defensive wall
- estuary - river meets sea tide
- gloating - prideful; bragging
- incandescence - giving off light
- lateen - sail (triangle)
- poultice - an herbal application for the purpose of healing or remedy
- telescopically - slide within one another; like a telescope
Chapter 3
- almsgiving - giving money to the poor
- ammonia - colorless gas with a characteristic pungent odor
- consecrated - sacred
- cozened - trickery; misleading
- disparagement - insult
- dissembling - misleading
- furtive - secretive
- judicious - to exercise good judgment; sound thinking
- lucent - softly bright; radiant
- precipitated - hurled; cause to move suddenly
- subjugation - forced submission; conquer
- transfigured - idealize; metamorphosis
Chapter 4
- appraiser - one who estimates worth or value
- contemptuous - scorn or disdain
- countenanced - tolerated
- crafty - clever
- freshet - freshwater stream (flowing into the sea)
- legerdemain - magic
- lethargy - tired; weak
- tules - weaving material
Chapter 5
- edifice - building or structure
- exhilaration - glad; joyful
- leprosy - chronic granulomatous communicable disease
- skirled - a shrill call
- stifling - smothering; suffocating; to take away breath or restrict
Chapter 6
- apprehensively - fearful
- cleft - split
- escarpment - a long, steep slope or cliff; declivity
- intercession - intervention; protection; mediation
- malignant - dangerous; harmful; tumorous; deadly
- monolithic - huge; imposing
- monotonously - boring; without variation
- outcroppings - layers of rock
- threshed - beat; whipped