Fall vocab
Born A Crime
Animosity (n.) - a feeling of ill will arousing active hostility
Example - “Then white rule used that animosity to divide and conquer.”
Obstinate (adj.) - resolute adherence to your own ideas or desires
Example - “Whenever I found myself up against my mother’s faith-based obstinacy, I would try, as respectfully as possible, to counter with an opposing point of view.”
Boisterous (adj.) - noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
Example - He was boisterous and loud.
Dilapidated (adj.) - in a state of decay, ruin, or deterioration
Example - Most of them shut down, and black children were forced into crowded classrooms in dilapidated schools, often with teachers who were barely literate themselves.
Voracious (adj.) - devouring or craving food in great quantities
Example - I was a voracious kid. I consumed boxes of books and wanted more, more, more. I ate like a pig.
“The Flowers”
Keen (adj.) - Having or showing eagerness or enthusiasm; highly developed or sharp.
Example - “The air held a keenness that made her nose twitch.”
Debris (n.) - Scattered fragments, typically of something wrecked or destroyed.
Example - “When she pushed back the leaves and debris Myop saw that he’d had large white teeth, all of them cracked or broken, long fingers, and very big bones.”
“The Story of An Hour”
Hasten (v.) - To move or act quickly; to accelerate the process of something.
Example - “He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.”
Tumultuous (adj.) - Full of confusion, disorder, or commotion; loud or excited.
Example - “Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously.”
“A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”
Incomprehensible (adj.) - Impossible or difficult to understand.
Example - “Then they dared speak to him, and he answered in an incomprehensible dialect with a strong sailor’s voice.”
Imposter (n.) - A person who pretends to be someone else to deceive others.
Example - “The parish priest had his first suspicion of an imposter when he saw that he did not understand the language of God or know how to greet His ministers.”
“We Ate the Children Last”
Evasive (adj.) - Tending to avoid commitment or self-revelation, especially by responding only indirectly.
Example - “When asked about what he ate, he was evasive.”
Unscrupulous (adj.) - Having or showing no moral principles; dishonest or unethical.
Example - “Unscrupulous racketeers began selling [garbage].”
The Bean Trees
Conniption (n.) - A display of bad temper
Example - “Lou Ann made the baptism decision purely for practical reasons: if one of the grandmothers was going to have a conniption, it might as well be the one who was eighteen hundred miles away rather than the one who lived right across town.”
Rigamarole (n.) - A long, complicated, and confusing procedure
Example - “Nope. It’s done, for all practical purposes. There’s still some rigamarole in court for getting a birth certificate that takes about six months, but that’s not too bad. It takes longer than that to make a kid from scratch, is how I look at it.”
Condone (v.) - Excuse, overlook, or make allowances for
Example - “In Aimee's opinion it would have been condoning sin to let Sandi and her illegitimate son stay there for free.”
Pandemonium (n.) - A state of extreme confusion and disorder
Example - “I suppose we could have honked and waved and it wouldn't have raised any more pandemonium than this poor mother already had to deal with, but instead we held perfectly still.”
Gumption (n.) - Fortitude and determination
Example - “I had thought of asking Terry, the red-haired doctor on the bicycle, but couldn't quite get up the gumption.”
Catatonic (adj.) - Characterized by unresponsiveness or lack of movement
Example - “Turtle hadn’t spoken once in the days since the incident, and was back to her old ways. Now I knew a word for this condition: catatonic.”
Cantankerous (adj.) - stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate.
Example - “‘She’ll do fine,’ I said. ‘Remember, I'm used to cantankerous cars.’”