A
aberrant: very, very wrong, and causing much grief.
abhorrent: what Count Olaf used to do when he was about your age.
abstruse: cryptic
accomplice: helper of murderers.
adversity: Trouble
alcove: a very, very small nook just perfect for sitting and reading.
anagram: when you move the letters around in one or more words to make another word or words.
anxious: troubled by disturbing suspense.
aphorism: a small group of words arranged in a certain order because they sound good that way.
archives: every single issue of a particular newspaper, gathered into a large collection.
audacity: attempt to steal valuables from hospital employees, in addition to snatching the Baudelaire fortune.
austere: stern and severe.
B
backbreaking: so difficult and tiring that it felt like the orphans’ backs were breaking, even though they actually weren’t.
bambini: Italian for children.
befuddled: as confused as Jerome.
briskly: quickly, so as to get the Baudelaire children to leave the house.
Brobdingnagian: unbelievably husky.
C
cacophony: the sound of two metal pots being banged together by a nasty foreman standing in the doorway holding no breakfast at all.
catastrophe: an utter disaster involving tragedy, deception, and Count Olaf.
chameleonic: able to blend in with any situation.
commonplace book: place where I have collected passages from some of the most important booksI have read.
copious: lots of.
crowbar: a sort of portable lever.
cul-de-sac: French At the end of the dark hallway, the Baudelaire children found an assortment of mysterious circumstances.
D
daunting: full of incredibly difficult words.
demise: stepped into the path of the sawing machine
depressed: describes a secret button, hidden in a crow statue, that is feeling just fine, thank you.
deus ex machina: Latin literally: the god from the machine. The arrival of something helpful when you least expect it.
disguise: a change of clothing to hide one's identity.
distraught: upset.
dowager: widow.
dramatic irony: when a person makes a harmless remark, and someone who hears it knows something that makes the remark have a different, and unusually unpleasant, meaning.
dramatic theater: a large, dark room in which actors perform a play.
dumbly: without speaking.
E
eavesdropping: listening in.
emphatically: as if she thought being extra careful was a very good plan.
ersatz: a situation in which one thing is pretending to be another; the most terrifying place the Baudelaires had ever seen.
F
fata morgana: mirage.
fifth wheel: not in a position to do anything particularly helpful.
figuratively: feels like it’s happening.
fin de siécle: time in history when a century is drawing to a close.
foisted: gave.
foreman: somebody who supervises workers.
forgery: write something yourself and pretend somebody else wrote it.
G
giddy: dizzy and excited.
gingerly: avoiding territorial crabs.
glaze over: ache slightly from boredom
grammar: all those rules about how to write and speak the English language.
graphologists: men and women who are experts in the field of handwriting analysis.
grotesque: twisted, tangled, stained, and gory.
gurney: a metal bed with wheels, used in hospitals to move patients around.
gusto: in a way which produced a great deal of phlegm.
H
hackneyed: used by so, so many writers that by the time Lemony Snicket uses it, it is a tiresome cliché.
hair’s breadth: a teeny-tiny measurement
herpetology: the study of snakes.
I
idiosyncrasies: unique habits.
ineffectual-unable to get Klaus unhypnotized
inevitable: A lifetime of horror and woe
impenetrable: impossible to break into and rescue kidnapped triplets.
impertinent: pointing out that I’m wrong, which annoys me.
impressionable age: ten and eight years old, respectively
incentive: an offered reward to persuade you to do something you don’t want to do.
incredulously: not being able to believe it.
incurring: bringing about.
infiltrated: snuck in without our noticing.
innuendo: people who call up newspapers and tell them things that aren't necessarily true.
inquisitive: full of questions.
J
K
L
lamentably deplorable: it was not at all enjoyable.
Library of Records: a place where official information is stored.
literally: actually happens.
M
mandatory: “…The Word ‘mandatory’ means that if you don’t show up, you have to buy me a large bag of candy and watch me eat it…” Vice Principal Nero, The Austere Academy, p. 25
misnomer: a very wrong name.
Molotov cocktails: small bombs made with kerosene inside bottles.
movie theater: a large, dark room in which a projectionist shows a film.
musical theater: a large, dark room in which musicians perform a symphony.
N
nemesis: the worst enemy you could imagine.
nuptial: relating to marriage.
nefarious: Baudelaire-hating
O
oblivious: not aware that Stephano was really Count Olaf and thus being in a great deal of danger.
ocular: related to the eye.
operating theater: a large, dark room in which doctors perform medical procedures.
optimist: a person who thinks hopeful and pleasant thoughts about nearly everything.
P
pandemonium: actors and stagehands running around attending to last-minute details.
parchment: some very old paper printed with a map of the city at the time when the Baudelaire orphans lived in it.
pathetic: depressing and containing no windows.
perished: killed.
phantasmagorical: all the creepy, scary words you can think of put together.
(a) Poor teacher: a teacher who is obsessed with the metric system
Q
quizzically: because he didn’t know that he caused the accident that hurt Phil’s leg
R
rickety: unsteady; likely to collapse.
ridicule: tease.
ruefully: while pointing at a rude, violent, and filthy little girl.
ruffians: horrible people.
rust: a reddish-brown coating that forms on certain metals when they oxidize.
S
schism: a member suddenly behaving in a greedy and violent manner and thus dividing the organization into two arguing groups.
spurious: nothing at all like a real doctor.
standoffish: reluctant to associate with others.
stiletto: a woman’s shoe with a very long and narrow heel.
strangulatory: having to do with strangling.
superlative: marvelous.
T
territorial: unhappy to see small children in their living quarters
toodle-oo: the in way of saying good-bye to three bratty orphans you’re never going to see again.
transpired: happened and made everybody sad.
triptych: three panels, with something different painted on each of the panels.
U
unblemished: without tattoos.
unnerving: twisted, tangled, stained, and gory.
V
W
waning: dim, and making everything look extra-creepy.
ward: particular section of the hospital.
X
xenophobe: somebody who is afraid of people just because they come from a different country.
Y
Z

Sunny Sayings
During the course of the books, Sunny says some interesting things. But what do these Sunny Sayings mean? Only Klaus and Violet know, but thanks to Lemony Snicket, we can unnderstand what she is saying. This is not yet the complete list. I still need to borrow some more of the books from the library.

Sunny Sayings	What does it mean?
Yeeka!	How Interesting!
Yep, Lox	"Count Olaf's been making you do the cooking?" Violet, The Slippery Slope, p. 219
Ghand!	But Klaus read many complicated books!
Casca	That's not very reassuring.
Varni!	"Of course, a coincidence." Klaus, The Miserable Mill, p. 13
Snevi!	Response to "...It might have some hard wood, and Sunny would find it interesting to bite it." Violet, The Miserable Mill, p. 18-19
Cigam!	Look at this note!
Teruca?	What's a foreman?
Bram!	And our last name is Baudelaire.
Tanco!	And babies shoudn't even have gum, because they could choke on it!!
Nelnu!	Response to "...The trouble is, we can't buy two banjos, because we don't have anythin but these coupons." Phil, The Miserable Mill, p. 42
Wora	If somebody had told me, that day at the beach that before long I would find myself using my four theeth to scrap bark of trees, I would have said they were psychoneurotically disturbed
Molub!	We're talking about the typed note that told us to go to work at the lumbermill!
Batex!	But we're not laying eyes on one another!
Elund!	It is certainly perplexing.
Chorn!	And his voice sounds nothing like Count Olaf's.
Pelli!	But that doesn't explain the eye=shaped building, or the cover of the book!
Tenpa	Response to "...This might turn out to be the most furtunate part of your lives." Phil ("I admire your optimism." Klaus, The Miserable Mill, p. 69
Dolc!	And I would be a dentist!
Rotup!	"My brother's glasses! They're twisted, and cracked. They're hopelessly broken, and he can scarcely see anything without them!" Violet, The Miserable Mill, p. 75
Yoryar!	"That building has the mark of Count Olaf!" Klaus, The Miserable Mill, p. 76
Wrong def	An individual practitioner means someone who works alone, instead of with a group, and it has nothing to do with a life of crime.
Wipi!	I'd much prefer gardening to sitting around watching my siblings struggle through law books
Vaccurum	"Olaf even made clean crumbs outn of the car, by blowing as hard as she could."
Unno Nasonist	I don't know, but they burned down VFD Headquarters
Unfeasi	To make a hot meal without any electricity, I'd need a fire and expecting a baby to start a fire all by herself on top of a snowy mountain is cruelly impossible, and impossibly cruel.
Unasanc	"Sunny says that the villains have mentioned one more safe place for volunteers to gather." Violet, The Slippery Slope, p. 224
Uh-oh!	That doesn't sound like good news
Translo	Just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it's nonsense
Surchmi	I don't have it- My siblings do.
Suppertunity	Serving the troupe dinner will be a perfect chance to listen to their conversation.
Sneakitawc	Of course, becuase you don't understand me, I can say anything I want to you, and you'll have no idea what I'm talking about.
Sakesushi	I don't think you'll enjoy salmon if it's not cooked.
Rosebud!	In some situations the location of a certain object can be so much more important than being outnumbered.
Quagmire?	"Yes, This is really Quigley Quagmire." Violet, The Slippery Slope, p. 217
Plakna	How am I supposed to cook breakfast on the top of a freezing mountain?
Olafile	"But if Count Olaf has the Snicket File..." Violet, The Slippery Slope, p. 225
Oh!	What a terrible place I don't want to live here at all!
Nonat	I didn't notice any such insects outside.
Nogo	I don't think I should accompany you.
No!	I certainly hope that isn't true, becuase my siblings and I hoped to reach VFD Headquarters, solve the mysteries that surround us, and perhaps find one of our parents.
Matahari	If I stay, I can spy on them and find out.
Lox!	Lox ia a word which refers to smoked salmon, and it is a delicious way to enjoy freshly caught fish...
Klaus?	"He's safe and nearby" Violet, The Slippery Slope, p. 217
Intrepid	Quigley Quagmire was brave and resourceful enough to survive the fire that destroyed his home, and I'm sure he'll survive this too.
Hygene	Additionally, you ought to be ashamed of yourself for wearing the same outfit for weeks at a time withough washing.
Goo goo	I'm going to pretend I'm a helpless baby, instead of answering your question.
Godot	We don't know where to go, and we don't know how to get there.
Gibbo!	And I could have lots of things to bite.
Gack!	Look at that mysterious figure emerging through the fog!
Ga ga goo goo	I won't be caught, becuase they think I'm only a helpless baby
Futil	That is an absolutely imposiible chore.
False spring rolls!	An assortment of vegetables wrapped in spinach leaves prepared in honor of False Spring.
Eureka!	I've just realized something!
Drat	That is exactly what I was planning to do.
Coastkleer	It's safe to come out now.
Cinderella	I've had to do all of the chores, while being humiliated at every turn.
Busheney	You're an evil man with no concern whatsoever for other people.
Brummel	In my opinion, you desperately need a bath, and your clothing is in shambles.
Book!	Would somebody please wipe my face?
Book!	Please don't forget to pick out a picture book for me.
Bicuspid?	Should I drag my theeth against the ice, too?
Babganoush!	I concocted an escape plan with the eggplant that turned out to be even handier than I thought.
Aubergine	I've concocted a plain involving ths eggplant, and it doesn't matter if I tell you about it because you never understand a single word I say.
Arigato	I appreciate you help, Quigley