Hick: Part 3

by Sarah Miller
This biography covers the life of journalist Lorena "Hick" Hickok, whose life was changed by the love of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

This list covers vocabulary from Part 3.

Here are links to our lists for the book:

List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. spartan
    marked by simplicity, frugality, or self-denial
    Hick also highlighted Eleanor’s spartan practicality.
  2. kerfuffle
    a disorderly outburst or tumult
    Before Eleanor even set out for her appointment, a kerfuffle arose over transportation.
  3. capitulate
    surrender under agreed conditions
    She wasn’t first lady yet, and already everyone expected her to capitulate.
  4. consternation
    sudden shock or dismay that causes confusion
    To Hick’s consternation, her editors expected her to keep them informed about every breath Eleanor took.
  5. insinuation
    an indirect (and usually malicious) implication
    Years later, Hick would hotly denounce any insinuation that she’d gotten the interview through favoritism.
  6. precipitous
    extremely steep
    But even Hick hadn’t realized yet that where Eleanor Roosevelt was concerned, her objectivity had already taken a precipitous tumble.
  7. torpor
    inactivity resulting from lethargy and lack of energy
    The people were too hollowed out and listless to muster up the energy to hope anymore. Their despair and emotional torpor saturated Hick until she could think of little else.
  8. peremptory
    offensively self-assured or exercising unwarranted power
    “She is a rotund lady with a husky voice, a peremptory manner, baggy clothes,” Time wrote, as if any of that had the slightest bearing on how she did her job.
  9. palomino
    a horse of light tan or golden color
    The house and lake were at their disposal, as well as any horse in the barn, including Ella’s special pet, a palomino whose coat looked like it’d been spun from gold threads.
  10. idyll
    a charming, peaceful, or idealized episode or situation
    Once she and Eleanor descended into less secluded territory, their Yosemite idyll began to sour.
  11. venerable
    impressive by reason of age
    To name such a venerable and enduring living thing after something so insignificant as a person struck Hick as not only “positively sacrilegious,” but the height of indignity.
  12. blithe
    lacking or showing a lack of due concern
    Alix was not quite so blithe about Hick’s affection toward Eleanor, however.
  13. ardent
    characterized by intense emotion
    The intensity had continued to fade incrementally from their correspondence, shifting its tone from ardent love letters to convivial chats.
  14. stalwart
    possessing or displaying courage
    Only the mosquitoes intruded on their time together, clouds of them thick enough to pester even the stalwart Eleanor into voicing a mild complaint or two.
  15. passel
    a large number or amount
    The secretary of state and his undersecretary were there, along with a passel of navy men decked out in dress uniform.
Created on 三月 24, 2026 (updated 五月 26, 2026)

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