The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

1. decorous (adjective):

in keeping with manners, good taste, or custom

“Some were decorous: old people in long stiff robes of mauve and grey, grave master workmen, quiet, merry women carrying their babies and chatting as they walked.” (Paragraph 1)

2. lithe (adjective):

slender and graceful

“[B]oys and girls, naked in the bright air, with mud-stained feet and ankles and long, lithe arms, exercised their restive horses before the race.” (Paragraph 1)

3. archaic (adjective):

obsolete, belonging to an earlier era

“All smiles have become archaic.” (Paragraph 3)

4. litter (noun):

a covered seat or bed attached to poles; used to carry one or more passengers

“Given a description such as this, one tends to look next for the King, mounted on a splendid stallion and surrounded by his noble knights, or perhaps in a golden litter borne by great-muscled slaves.” (Paragraph 3)

5. dulcet (adjective):

sweetly pleasant; often used ironically

“Yet I repeat that these were not simple folk, not dulcet shepherds, noble savages, bland utopians.