We Are the Ants: List 2

by Shaun David Hutchinson
Is the world worth saving? That's the question Henry Denton must answer when aliens give him the power to save—or destroy—the planet. Learn these words from the novel by Shaun David Hutchinson.

This list covers 22 Sept 2015 – 4 Nov 2015.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, LIst 3, List 4, List 5
35 words 43 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. unsolicited
    not asked for
    She was huffing like she was dying to give me more unsolicited advice, but she said, “Forget it,” instead, gathered her books, and left.
  2. jaded
    bored or apathetic after experiencing too much of something
    I wanted her to be like the rest of my teachers: bored, jaded, and counting down the seconds until retirement.
  3. lucid
    capable of thinking in a clear and consistent manner
    At first I thought she was joking, but she was lucid and totally serious.
  4. specter
    a mental representation of some haunting experience
    Mom hadn’t let me or Charlie see Nana when she was going through chemotherapy, and we didn’t talk about it after, either, but the specter of death had haunted us for months.
  5. remission
    an abatement in intensity or degree
    Even when her doctors said her cancer was in remission, I still felt the weight of death in Nana’s house.
  6. sociopath
    a person with an antisocial personality disorder
    When he saw me, he didn’t stop—not Charlie—instead he flashed me a toothy, sadistic grin. The kind that makes me wonder if my brother is a sociopath.
  7. pungent
    strong and sharp to the sense of taste or smell
    Narrow rows of lockers separated by benches, fellow students changing into their gym clothes, and the pungent odor of sweat and body spray made my skin itch.
  8. impoverished
    poor enough to need help from others
    Billionaire philanthropists donate their entire fortunes to fund efforts that bring Fixers to impoverished nations, making certain that every human on the planet in need is able to receive treatment.
  9. sonogram
    image produced by reflections of high-frequency sound waves
    A sonogram with hawthorne, zooey printed across the bottom clung to the refrigerator door—held in place by a magnet from our favorite Chinese takeout joint.
  10. monochrome
    having or appearing to have only one color
    The picture looked like a miniature monochrome galaxy, teeming with stars and worlds and boundless potential.
  11. amorphous
    having no definite form or distinct shape
    I took the sonogram to the kitchen table and tried to determine which part of the amorphous blob was my future niece or nephew.
  12. flaccid
    drooping without elasticity
    Nana’s flaccid, wrinkled cheeks pulled back into an impish grin.
  13. pauper
    a person who is very poor
    “I’ve led a rich life, Henry, but I’m terrified of dying a pauper.”
  14. wry
    humorously sarcastic or mocking
    Zooey flashed me a wry smile.
  15. undertow
    inclination contrary to the strongest or prevailing feeling
    Diego’s voice contained a dangerous undertow.
  16. fiendish
    extremely evil or cruel
    I did my best to ignore the name-calling and laughter, and between the impending end of the world and Diego, I hadn’t spent much time worrying about what fiendish plans Marcus and his boys were cooking up.
  17. bedlam
    a state of extreme confusion and disorder
    The classroom became bedlam when Ms. Faraci dismissed us for lunch.
  18. dearth
    an insufficient quantity or number
    It might seem ludicrous to believe I caused Jesse's suicide, but in the dearth of answers he left behind, it makes as much sense as anything else.
  19. mitigate
    lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
    The best I could hope to do was mitigate the disaster.
  20. prone
    lying face downward
    When they finished with my hands, they pulled my legs out from under me and secured my ankles, leaving me prone on the wet, mildewed floor.
  21. garish
    tastelessly showy
    I swore I saw him grinning through his garish alien mask.
  22. dour
    showing a brooding ill humor
    Her dour frown met Sandoval’s humorless eyes, and it looked like a competition to see who could take my situation more seriously.
  23. derision
    the act of treating with contempt
    A photo of me sprawled on the shower floor—bound and green, wearing only a gray alien mask—had spread virally through SnowFlake, each new person who shared it heaping on derision.
  24. supine
    lying face upward
    From my supine position on the metal slab, the sluggers had all looked the same, but this one was close enough that I could distinguish fractal patterns on its skin in a million shades of green and brown.
  25. intergalactic
    existing or occuring between collections of star systems
    I was prepared to spend my life in a cage as the centerpiece of their intergalactic zoo if it meant never returning to Calypso.
  26. gelid
    extremely cold
    I dropped to my knees, comforted by the solidity of the floor even though I couldn’t see it, expecting at any moment to be sucked into the gelid void, frozen and dead.
  27. exorbitant
    greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation
    Those willing to pay the exorbitant fees are shifted backward in time to view history firsthand.
  28. uprising
    organized opposition to authority
    The problems begin when the North American Alliance's prime minister sends soldiers to the year 2213 to prevent the Texas uprising that turned much of what was once known as the United States into an atomic wasteland.
  29. faction
    a clique that seeks power usually through intrigue
    History becomes fluid. Factions with varying agendas fight to rewrite the events of the past to their advantage. The government that controls the past controls the future.
  30. fission
    splitting a massive nucleus with the release of energy
    At 10:19 UTC, Emmanuel detonates a fission bomb, atomizing the Large Hadron Collider, CERN, and most of Switzerland.
  31. infinitesimal
    immeasurably small
    An infinitesimal fraction of a second prior to the bomb’s detonation, two particles collide with such fierce velocity that they form a micro singularity—a black hole too small to see with the naked eye.
  32. bile
    a digestive juice secreted by the liver
    My skin began to itch like I’d been sunburned and blistered, and my stomach filled with bile.
  33. blase
    nonchalantly unconcerned
    I was sure he knew about the attack, had probably seen the pictures, but he was being maddeningly blase.
  34. discordant
    lacking in harmony
    She tried to continue, searching desperately for the right chords, but the notes were discordant. She banged the piano, her frustration mounting. “I can’t remember how it goes!”
  35. plaintive
    expressing sorrow
    He played a joyful counterpoint to her plaintive dirge—his notes light and hopeful to drive back the desolation of the future.
Created on Thu Jul 27 19:17:18 EDT 2017 (updated Fri Sep 13 13:57:18 EDT 2019)

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