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Speak Novel Vocab
30 words from the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Question | Answer |
---|---|
obsess | to dominate or preoccupy the thoughts, feeling, or desires of a person. |
delinquency | failure in or neglect of duty or obligation |
shame | the painful feeling arising from the consequences of something dishonorable or improper. |
vulnerable | capable of or susceptible to being hurt. |
momentum | force or speed of movement. |
symmetrical | characterized by or exhibiting equal proportions on both sides. |
indoctrination | teaching or inculcating a doctrine. Slang = brainwashing. |
pseudo | not real; false or spurious |
mayhem | random or deliberate violence; a state or rowdy disorder |
degrade | to lower in dignity; to lower in character or quality; debase. |
harry | to harass or annoy by repeated attacks |
vermilion | a brilliant color red |
conundrum | anything that confuses; a puzzle or play on words |
asylum | a place of refuge; |
voila | an interjection meaning "Ta-da!" or "Here it is!" |
vague | not clearly expressed or stated; not easy to see clearly. |
blathers | to speak in babble or nonsense |
irony | the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning |
obligation | something which a person feels bound to do because of a contract, agreement, or sense of duty. |
oriented | a verb meaning to familiarize oneself with one's surroundings or change. |
imbecile | a dunce, blockhead, dolt |
gargoyle | a grotesquely carved figure of a human or animal; meant to be scary/ugly |
wan | showing or suggesting ill health; sickly in appearance or color; pallid |
simultaneously | existing or occurring at the same time; concurrent |
interim | an intervening or in-between time |
batter | to beat or pound repeatedly |
imperial | of, like, or related to an empire, emperor, or a ruler |
demented | crazy; insane; mad from dementia |
vespiary | a nest or colony of wasps or hornets |