Zeitoun: Part II

by Dave Eggers
When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the Zeitoun family faced not only the aftermath of the storm, but also the sudden and inexplicable arrest of Adbulrahman Zeitoun, a small business owner and father of four. Learn these words from their story, as reported by acclaimed writer Dave Eggers.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V
40 words 24 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. armoire
    a large wardrobe or cabinet
    There were dressers, armoires.
  2. fete
    have a celebration in someone's honor
    He was feted by heads of state and featured in newspapers and magazines all over the world.
  3. stagnant
    not circulating or flowing
    Outside it was cooler, a breeze cutting through the stagnant air.
  4. arrhythmic
    lacking a steady beat or accent
    On any given night, one would become excited by something and set off the rest, an arrhythmic call-and-response that could last hours until they calmed, one by one, into silence.
  5. ill-conceived
    poorly thought out
    Though every resident of New Orleans imagines great floods, knows that such a thing is possible in a city surrounded by water and ill-conceived levees, the sight, in the light of day, was beyond anything he had imagined.
  6. oppressive
    weighing heavily on the senses or spirit
    It was early in the day, but the humidity was already oppressive.
  7. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    A few doors down, Zeitoun and Frank came upon a house with a large white cloth billowing from the second-floor window.
  8. thoroughfare
    a public road from one place to another
    They assumed there would be activity there, that if anywhere would have a police or military presence, it would be Claiborne, the main thoroughfare nearby.
  9. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    They hardly had time to exchange incredulous looks when another boat came their way.
  10. devolve
    grow worse
    But since then conditions in the city had devolved.
  11. placid
    calm and free from disturbance
    The winds were gone, and now it was just water, placid water.
  12. haphazard
    marked by great carelessness
    It looked like a haphazard estate sale.
  13. rove
    move about aimlessly or without any destination
    There were unverified reports of roving gangs of armed men, of guns being fired at helicopters trying to rescue patients from the roof of a hospital.
  14. hyperbolic
    enlarged beyond truth or reasonableness
    She was reluctant to believe the hyperbolic and racially charged news coverage, but still, things were devolving.
  15. regimen
    a systematic plan for therapy
    He watched the swimmers train, studying their strokes and regimen, longing to be part of it himself.
  16. incumbent
    necessary as a duty or responsibility; morally binding
    It was incumbent, thereafter, on each and every child to live up to that legacy.
  17. fitful
    occurring in spells and often abruptly
    Zeitoun tucked himself into the tent and fell into a fitful sleep.
  18. opaque
    not transmitting or reflecting light or radiant energy
    It was darker now, opaque, streaked with oil and gasoline, polluted with debris, food, garbage, clothing, pieces of homes.
  19. ballast
    any heavy material used to stabilize a ship or airship
    He retrieved it and set it up again, dried the interior with towels, and then went inside the house to look for ballast.
  20. avail
    a means of serving
    Zeitoun tried to wave him off again, to no avail.
  21. detritus
    the remains of something that has been destroyed or finished
    The water was filthy now, streaked with oil and spotted with detritus.
  22. plight
    a situation from which extrication is difficult
    He apologized to the couple, explaining that he had first tried the hospital, where he was sent away at gunpoint, and then gone to St. Charles to tell the soldiers and the relief workers about their plight.
  23. alight
    shining brightly as if on fire or aflame
    But here he was, his eyes alight, talking about carrying people to safety, how his arrival at any given house or overpass was met with cheers and thanks.
  24. abrogate
    revoke formally
    The man had abrogated a simple agreement.
  25. nepotism
    favoritism shown to relatives or friends by those in power
    Zeitoun was convinced Ahmad was treating him a bit more roughly than the others, to compensate for any suspicions of nepotism, but he didn’t mind.
  26. semblance
    the outward or apparent appearance or form of something
    They’d cook all the meat that remained, and have some grim semblance of a party on his roof.
  27. bulbous
    rounded and bulging
    The object in the water looked like a tire, shiny and bulbous—
  28. eschew
    avoid and stay away from deliberately
    They had been hearing isolated reports from the radio and others who had stayed in the city, and they were all relieved they had eschewed shelter there; they had known it would turn out poorly.
  29. dredge
    search the bottom of a body of water for something valuable
    There would be trees and trash everywhere—the ground would look like that of a dredged lake.
  30. acrid
    strong and sharp, as a taste or smell
    The smell was musky, acrid, and the flames swallowed the homes with remarkable speed.
  31. melange
    a varied mixture or assortment of things
    It smelled dirtier every day, a wretched mélange of fish and mud and chemicals.
  32. idyllic
    charmingly simple and serene
    The scene was at once idyllic and hallucinatory.
  33. quell
    overcome or allay
    “Where you going?” he asked, unable to quell his curiosity.
  34. prostrate
    stretched out and lying at full length along the ground
    He compelled against them
    for seven uninterrupted nights and eight days
    so you would have seen the people laid prostrate
    as if they were the uprooted fallen-down palm trees.
  35. iniquity
    absence of moral or spiritual values
    Pharaoh and those who came before him,
    and the cities overthrown,
    were ones of iniquity;
    they rebelled against the Messenger
    of their Lord,
    so He took them with the mounting taking.
  36. exult
    feel extreme happiness or elation
    And so they spent hours there, watching the birds come and go, feeding them from their palms, exulting in the familiarity that allowed the birds to land on their arms and shoulders.
  37. despondent
    without or almost without hope
    The boys were despondent, and argued their case to their mother.
  38. nonchalant
    marked by casual unconcern or indifference
    She tried to sound nonchalant.
  39. portage
    carrying boats and supplies overland
    It was a good three miles away, and would require a portage over the highway, but Zeitoun was happy to have a clear-cut task.
  40. crux
    the most important point
    He would often say it when he felt Kathy was focusing on irrelevant details while ignoring the crux of a problem.
Created on Tue Apr 10 16:18:50 EDT 2018 (updated Wed Apr 11 11:45:15 EDT 2018)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.