SAT Vocabulary: The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)

This post contains definitions for SAT vocabulary words in The Catcher in the Rye.

Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Little, Brown and Company, 2001.

SAT Vocabulary Words in The Catcher in the Rye

Grandstand: the main seating area, usually roofed, commanding the best view for spectators at racetracks or sports stadiums.
"You couldn't see the grandstand too hot, but you could hear them yelling, deep and terrific on the Pencey side, because practically the whole school except for me was there." (p. 5)

Grippe: old-fashioned term for influenza.
"He had the grippe, and I figured I probably wouldn't see him again until Christmas vacation started." (p. 6)

Chiffonier: a tall chest of drawers, often with a mirror on top.
"He started walking around the room, very slow and all, the way he always did, picking up your personal stuff off of your desk and chiffonier." (p. 27)

Dopey: idiotic.
"I could see my mother going in Spaulding's and asking the salesman a million dopy questions." (p. 67)

Dope: a stupid person.
"She didn't look like any dope to me." (p. 72)
"If I were a piano player or an actor or something and all those dopes thought I was teriffic, I'd hate it. I wouldn't even want them to clap for me." (p. 110)

Putrid: very unpleasant; repulsive.
"The band was putrid." (p. 90)

Chateau: a large French country house or castle often giving its name to wine made in its neighborhood.
"He had this big chateau and all on the Riviera, in Europe, and all he did in his spare time was beat women off with a club." (p. 121)

Bourgeois: of or characteristic of the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes. (in Marxist contexts) upholding the interests of capitalism; not communist.
"Even my fountain pen was bourgeois. He borrowed it off me all the time, but it was bourgeois anyway." (p. 142)

Lulu: an outstanding example of a particular type of person or thing.
"We were the worst skaters in the rink. I mean the worst. And there were some lulus, too." (p. 167)

Stenographer: a person whose job is to transcribe speech in shorthand.
"Or you may end up in some business office, throwing paper clips at the nearest stenographer." (p. 243)

Affected: artificial, pretentious, and designed to impress.
"She was pretty affected, but very good-looking." (p. 276)