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An 85 word vocabulary list with definitions for Hamlet is arranged by Act.
Act II: 15 words
wanton = unrestrained; bawdy; rebellious
doublet = close-fitting jacket
fouled = dirty
expostulate = make a speech about
brevity= conciseness
fretted = decorated; adorned
quintessence = essence of
appurtenences of = belongings
Seneca = Roman philosopher, a writer of tragedies
pious chanson = holy ballad
carbuncles = red jewels
repugnant = disgusting, opposing
jig = song or dance
bestowed = applied; housed; conferred
scullion = kitchen servant
Act III: 23 words
fardel = load, burden
robustious = sturdy; strong; noisy
Herod = murderous tyrant of Judea
censure of = judgment of
barren = desolate; unproductive
occulted = hidden
Vulcan = Roman god of fire and metalworking
Neptune = Roman god of the sea
dallying = playing
Hecate = goddess of witchcraft and sorcery
recorder = wooden flute
choler = anger
purgation = cleansing, purification
musty = stale
fret = to annoy, a part of musical instrument
mortised = securely attached
glass = mirror
Mercury = Greek winged messenger
moor = barren land
apoplexed = affected by a stroke; without consciousness
gambol = skip about
unction = ointment
scourge = retribution
Act IV: 13 words
divulge = confess, tell
countenance = favorable look, appearance
cicatrice = scar
bestial = beast-like
oblivion = forgotten; mindlessness
artless = uncultured; crude; awkward
cuckhold = betrayed husband; a man whose wife is unfaithful
rue = to regret, to feel sorrowful
ostentation = ceremony, a showy or excessive display
unsinewed = weak without tendons or strength
remiss = negligent; lax; indifferent
hoar = gray
lauds = hymns
Act V: 9 words
indentures = binding contracts
conveyances = transports; communications; deeds
imperious = majestic, royal, imperial
maimed = impaired, hurt, lessened
shards = bits of broken pottery
amities = friendships
insinuation = innuendo; suggestion; a hint of
rapier = fencing sword
drossy = worthless
Links to vocabulary words lists and puzzles for other Shakespeare plays:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Antony and Cleopatra
As You Like It
Julius Caesar
Hamlet
King Lear
Macbeth
Much Ado About Nothing
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
The Merchant of Venice
The Taming of the Shrew
The Winter’s Tale
Twelfth Night
Hamlet – you are here
Thank you, Jan Cook, a former teacher at Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton, California, for being the teacher contributor at www.myVocabulary.com for a vocabulary word list for Hamlet written by William Shakespeare
