Dahl’s language in this novel is inventive and playful. He creates new words, uses exaggeration freely, and writes with great energy and delight. Many words are perfect for vocabulary study at KS2.
| Word | Meaning and Context |
|---|---|
| luminous | Giving off a soft light; glowing. Used to describe some of the amazing objects in the factory. "luminous boiled sweets" |
| translucent | Allowing light to pass through; semi-transparent. Used to describe some of Wonka's edible creations. |
| shrivel | To wrinkle and contract through heat, loss of moisture or age. Characters in the factory sometimes shrink or shrivel. |
| flabbergasted | Utterly astonished and speechless. Charlie and Grandpa Joe feel this often in the factory. "Charlie was absolutely flabbergasted." |
| concoction | A mixture prepared by combining ingredients. Wonka's sweets and chocolates are extraordinary concoctions. |
| retched / retching | Making the movements of vomiting. Used in the chocolate room when Augustus falls in. |
| squabbling | Quarrelling noisily about something trivial. Used to describe the behaviour of some of the children. |
| ghastly | Causing great horror or fear; very unpleasant. Dahl uses this freely to describe unpleasant things. |
| precious | Of great value; much loved and important. Used with irony when describing Veruca Salt — she is treated as precious but behaves appallingly. |
| miserable | Very unhappy or uncomfortable; causing unhappiness. The Bucket family are miserable with cold and hunger during winter. |
| haughty | Arrogantly superior and disdainful. Some of the parents display this quality when speaking to Wonka. |
| Oompa-Loompa | Wonka's factory workers — small people from Loompaland who agreed to work for Wonka in exchange for food and safety. An invented word/people created by Dahl. |
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