Ungifted: Unsurprised–Unforgivable

by Gordon Korman
An administrative mistake lands troublemaker Donovan Kurtis at the Academy of Scholastic Distinction, a prestigious school for gifted students.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Unearthed–Unrepaired, Unsurprised–Unforgivable, Unreal–Unlittered

Here is a link to our lists for Schooled by Gordon Korman.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. insensitive
    not noticing or caring about the feelings or needs of others
    “He’s not being insensitive, I assure you.”
  2. scour
    examine minutely
    I scoured the black-and-white images, searching for anything that resembled a baby.
  3. conundrum
    a difficult problem
    There was a conundrum here: A) Only sheer genius could get me out of the Academy.
  4. ponder
    reflect deeply on a subject
    I used to spend many hours pondering this, back in the days when I had many hours to spend pondering.
  5. revelation
    an enlightening or astonishing disclosure
    This was an important revelation for me, because almost everything on YouTube is surprising.
  6. utterly
    completely and without qualification
    It was astonishingly simple and utterly random—the brain hiccup of a collective mind seven billion people strong.
  7. brouhaha
    a confused disturbance far greater than its cause merits
    We were just getting calmed down after that brouhaha when Chloe pounded into the lab, gasping from an all-out sprint.
  8. resentful
    full of or marked by indignant ill will
    “You couldn’t get a zero if you handed in a blank page,” Abigail said in a resentful tone.
  9. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    “There’s more to life than YouTube, Noah,” chided Chloe.
  10. rousing
    capable of stirring enthusiasm or excitement
    When she stepped out into the waiting room, the students of Human Growth and Development 101 leaped to their feet and gave her a rousing standing ovation.
  11. ransack
    search thoroughly
    I’d even gone personally and ransacked Cynthia’s desk, in case she’d carried it off by accident.
  12. sneer
    express through a scornful smile
    Lately, I’d been finding excuses to visit Hardcastle Middle School in the hope that I would recognize his cocky sneering face somewhere.
  13. totter
    move unsteadily, with a rocking motion
    Cynthia tottered in on her high heels.
  14. adept
    having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude
    We were infinitely proud of our high achievers at the Academy for Scholastic Distinction, but many of them weren’t the most socially adept young people.
  15. contribution
    the part played by a person in bringing about a result
    I liked him a lot, and he’d made a huge contribution to our robotics team, in spite of very limited knowledge of the subject.
  16. fulfill
    meet the requirements or expectations of
    Best of all, he’d found a way for us to fulfill our Human Growth and Development requirement—something that helped him not at all.
  17. credibility
    the quality of being believable or trustworthy
    «Hypothesis: The compliment loses credibility in direct proportion to how closely related you are to the speaker.»
  18. brash
    offensively bold
    The Hardcastle kids were brasher than us, wilder, and more confident.
  19. beseech
    ask for or request earnestly
    I caught her attention, and she gave me a beseeching look—the kind you turn on the helicopter pilot who’s coming to save you from drowning.
  20. conceal
    prevent from being seen or discovered
    Mirrored sunglasses concealed his eyes, and his unstylish brush cut was covered with a red do-rag.
  21. jostle
    come into rough contact with while moving
    I tried to bulldoze my way out of the group, but flailing arms and swinging hips jostled me.
  22. furtive
    secret and sly
    I risked a furtive glance at my neighbors.
  23. bellow
    shout loudly and without restraint
    It wasn’t easy to drown out the sound system, but Sanderson bellowed it right in my ear.
  24. omen
    a sign of a thing about to happen
    It was a bad omen.
  25. venture
    proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
    Mr. Osborne had left Abigail, and was venturing on in search of somebody else to annoy.
  26. bewilderment
    confusion resulting from failure to understand
    Abigail was watching all this through her thick round glasses, her uncomfortable expression turning to bewilderment.
  27. survey
    determining opinions by interviewing people
    Nussbaum surveyed the plumbing fixtures.
  28. commiserate
    feel or express sympathy or compassion
    “I pity you,” Nussbaum commiserated.
  29. trajectory
    the path followed by an object moving through space
    I could see that my trajectory was taking me on a collision course with Oz and—yikes!
  30. remorse
    a feeling of deep regret, usually for some misdeed
    As soon as the girls were gone, though, they offered a little remorse for kidnapping the robot—in a Daniels sort of way.
  31. relish
    derive or receive pleasure from
    With the exception of Abigail, who was planning to relish my failure, everyone seemed to be pulling for me.
  32. solemn
    dignified and somber in manner or character
    He was running a B average there, but only because he was handy with a joystick—a mark of someone who has taken on a life of solemn worship at the altar of Xbox or PlayStation.
  33. dilute
    reduced in strength or concentration or quality or purity
    But that student was diluting the standards of the gifted program for everybody.
  34. bastion
    a group that defends a principle
    Oz was the last bastion of sanity left in the building.
  35. complacent
    contented to a fault with oneself or one's actions
    Surely he wasn’t complacent enough to put aside his teacher’s instinct just because of a test score.
Created on Thu Jul 07 11:12:28 EDT 2016 (updated Mon Sep 24 13:26:47 EDT 2018)

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