Curriculum text vocabulary

abyss: a deep or seemingly bottomless chasm; He stared into the abyss beneath his mother's feet as she almost fell.

apothecary: one who prepares and sells medicines; The apothecary refused to use the yew tree until it was too late.

baffled: perplexed or confused; His grandmother looked baffled at Conor’s sudden outburst.

cataclysmic: disastrous and violently destructive; The monster’s arrival felt cataclysmic in the still night.

charisma: personal charm or magnetism; The prince’s charisma rallied the villagers by the yew tree.

concoction: a mixture of ingredients or an elaborate invention; The monster’s tale sounded like a strange concoction woven of myth and truth.

congregation: a group assembled for religious worship; The congregation witnessed the monster rise beside the church yew.

contract: to shrink or make smaller; The mist began to contract around them as the monster spoke.

contradict: assert the opposite of; His mind would contradict itself in the darkness of grief.

countenance: facial expression or appearance; Her stern countenance softened when he finally spoke the truth.

demolish: to destroy completely; The monster threatened to demolish the parson’s house in punishment.

dissipate: to disperse or vanish; The mist would dissipate at dawn, but the grief remained.

ebb: to recede or lessen; Conor felt his resolve ebb as the nightmare returned.

endeavour: an earnest attempt or effort; He endeavoured to tell his story, though words failed him.

exasperated: intensely irritated or frustrated; Conor made an exasperated sound at the broken clock.

ferocious: savagely fierce or cruel; The monster’s ferocious voice shook the yew’s branches.

frenzy: wild or frantic activity; In his frenzy, Conor smashed the grandmother’s sitting‑room items.

ghastly: shockingly frightful or dreadful; He caught a ghastly glimpse of the monster in his window.

hysterical: uncontrollably emotional or panicked; Conor’s sobbing turned hysterical in the darkness.

impenetrable: impossible to pass through or understand; His grief felt impenetrable, like a wall of night.

insistent: demanding attention persistently; The monster’s insistent presence forced Conor into confession.

justification: reasoning or excuse in support of something; The monster challenged the justification for lies and comfort.

omen: a sign or event seen as predicting good or bad fortune; He felt the monster’s visit was an omen of what was coming.

ominously: in a way that suggests something bad will happen; He looked at Sully ominously before the confrontation.

pantomime: performance using gestures without words; He acted out a pantomime of fear in the dark room.

pummel: to strike repeatedly; He felt the need to pummel objects when anger overwhelmed him.

prospective: expected or likely to happen; He thought of the prospective story he must tell the monster

regent: someone governing in place of a monarch; The step‑grandmother as regent ruled until the prince came of age.

riddled: full of holes or problems; The parson’s land was riddled with sickness and despair.

rupture: a sudden break or split; The rupture between Conor and his former friends felt final.

sapling: a young tree; The monster’s arm was as strong as a hundred saplings bound together.

settee: a long upholstered sofa; Conor slept on the settee when his grandmother stayed.

scepticism: doubt about the truth or genuineness; He listened with scepticism to the monster’s demand for a true story.

suppress: to hold back or restrain; He tried to suppress the truth until he couldn’t anymore.

tendril: a slender curling twig or plant part; A tendril of memory wound around his grief in the night air.

treachery: betrayal of trust; The queen’s treachery sparked rebellion under the yew.

vengeance: punishment inflicted in retaliation; The villagers sought vengeance, rallied by the young prince.

verge: the edge or border; He stood on the verge of confession as the monster loomed.

vulnerable: open to harm or attack; Conor felt vulnerable when the monster demanded honesty.

wreak: to cause or bring about (usually harm or destruction); Stories can wreak havoc when unleashed.