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Ardath: The Story of a Dead Self
Ardath: The Story of a Dead Self

Chapter XVI

Cover illustration for Ardath: The Story of a Dead Self
Context Illustration Reading 1/79 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
THE PROPHET OF DOOM.
A few slow, dreadful minutes elapsed, .
. and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.
The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.
He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.
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LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

Ardath: The Story of a Dead Self

Chapter XVI

Reading 1/79 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
THE PROPHET OF DOOM.
Line 2
A few slow, dreadful minutes elapsed, .
Line 3
. and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.
Line 4
The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.
Line 5
He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

Agony noun US /ˈæɡ.ə.ni/

Extreme physical or mental suffering; intense anguish.

From this reading “. and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.”

Dreadful adjective US /ˈdrɛdfəl/

extremely frightening or unpleasant

From this reading “A few slow, dreadful minutes elapsed, .”

First noun US /first/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “. and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.”

Himself pronoun US /hɪmˈself/

used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object

From this reading “He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.”

Life noun US /life/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.”

Once noun US /once/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.”

Upon preposition US /əˈpɑːn/

a formal word for “on”

From this reading “The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.”

All words in this reading · 52

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

AdeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading A few slow, dreadful minutes elapsed, .

accurst

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

agonynounUS /ˈæɡ.ə.ni/

Extreme physical or mental suffering; intense anguish.

From this reading . and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.

all

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading . and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.

apathy

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.

asconjunctionUS /æz/

at the same time that; because; in the way that

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

banished

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

beauxiliary verbUS /biː/

used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

dear

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

DOOM

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading THE PROPHET OF DOOM.

dreadfuladjectiveUS /ˈdrɛdfəl/

extremely frightening or unpleasant

From this reading A few slow, dreadful minutes elapsed, .

dull

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.

elapsed

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading A few slow, dreadful minutes elapsed, .

felt

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

few

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading A few slow, dreadful minutes elapsed, .

firstnounUS /first/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading . and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.

gave

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.

grief

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.

hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

HepronounUS /hiː/

a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

held

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

himpronounUS /hɪm/

the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition

From this reading The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.

himselfpronounUS /hɪmˈself/

used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

hisdeterminerUS /hɪz/

belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned

From this reading . and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.

inconsolable

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.

itpronounUS /ɪt/

a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

lifenounUS /life/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

man

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

mental

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading . and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.

minutes

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading A few slow, dreadful minutes elapsed, .

mysteriously

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

nerves

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.

OFprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading THE PROPHET OF DOOM.

once

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

out

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

PROPHET

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading THE PROPHET OF DOOM.

settled

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.

sharpness

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading . and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.

slow

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading A few slow, dreadful minutes elapsed, .

strained

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.

strange

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading . and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.

stripped

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

subsided

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading . and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.

tension

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.

THEdeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading THE PROPHET OF DOOM.

then

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading . and then,--then the first sharpness of his strange mental agony subsided.

toparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

uponprepositionUS /əˈpɑːn/

a formal word for “on”

From this reading The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.

valuable

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.

way

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The strained tension of his nerves gave way, and a dull apathy of grief inconsolable settled upon him.

wereauxiliary verbUS /wɜːr/

the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun

From this reading He felt himself to be a man mysteriously accurst,--banished as it were out of life, and stripped of all he had once held dear and valuable.