Vocabulary

1)Solicitous
- Characterized by or showing interest or concern in
- Adjective
- The same hope that kept them . . . solicitous of white people's children. . .
- The parents were too solicitous of their teenage daughter; she began to get into trouble just to spite them.

2) Malevolence

- A wish to do evil to others 

- Noun

- There was the promise: leaf-dead. The teeth unrepaired . . . the slurred remarks and the staggering childish malevolence of their employers.

- There was a certain, unnerving, malevolence in the way he glared at his enemy. 

3)  Fastidious

- very concerned and attentive to accuracy and detail.

- Adjective

- She had neither iron nor clothes but did not stop her fastidious lining up of pleats or pressing out of wrinkles even when she acknowledged Nel's greeting.

- The wedding planner was especially fastidious about the table decorations.

4) Dirge

- A mournful song, or piece of music, chant, or poem. Especially having to do with funerals or death. 

- Noun

- On January third the sun came out-- and so did Shadrack with his rope, his bell and his childish dirge.

- The funeral dirge was so beautiful and sorrowful that it made even those at the funeral who weren't close to the deceased weep. 

5) Unassailable 

- unable to be attacked questioned or defeated

- adjective

- The sealed window soothed her with its sturdy termination, its unassailable finality.

- The heavily guarded fort was unassailable.

6) Timbre 

- The character or quality of a musical sound or a voice as distinct from its pitch and intensity.

- Noun

- It gave her voice the timbre she wanted it to have: free of the least hint of retribution.

- Depending on what kind of song you are singing, you'll want to play with the timbre of your voice for stylistic reasons.

7) Ornate 

- Made with intricate or complex details.

- Adjective

- An absence so decorative, so ornate, it was difficult for her to understand how she had ever endured. . . his magnificent presence.

- The picture frame had many details and was very ornate.

8) Mercurial 

- Subject to sudden or unpredicted changes of mood or mind

- Adjective.

- . . . she more than loves him, she admires him, as though his mercurial nature. . . served her only as sharp reminders of the turbulent longings within him. . .

- Two year olds have  naturally mercurial behavior; one minute they're laughing and the next they're screaming.

9) Trepidation

- a feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen.

- noun

- LINDA, hearing Willy outside the bedroom, calls with some trepidation: Willy!

- My sister opened the admissions letter from Washington University with much trepidation.

10) Imbue

- Inspire or permeate with a feeling or quality

- Verb

- That's just the spirit I wanted to imbue them with!

- The pastor imbued his congregation with a good feeling through his lively sermon.