When I Was the Greatest: Chapters 10–12

by Jason Reynolds
In his debut novel, award-winning writer Jason Reynolds tells the story of Ali, a teenager who tries to stay out of trouble in his gritty Brooklyn neighborhood. But when one of his friends is attacked, Ali is drawn into a real fight — with real consequences.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–9, Chapters 10–12, Chapters 13–16

Here are links to our lists for other books by Jason Reynolds: The Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys, Long Way Down, Ghost, Patina, Sunny, Lu
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. strut
    walk in a proud, confident way
    I put on my cool, which wasn't much, but on this night, way more than normal, and strutted over to where the girl with the legs was standing.
  2. icebreaker
    an initial activity to relax a tense or formal atmosphere
    In my mind I ran through a couple of icebreakers.
  3. sleazy
    morally degraded
    I took a sip of my soda. "You look amazing tonight," I said. Then I suddenly felt the need to explain myself. "And I don't mean that in a sleazy way I just mean you really look nice."
  4. slur
    utter indistinctly
    She whispered something in my ear, but I couldn't make it out because it was kinda slurred.
  5. throbbing
    pounding or beating strongly or violently
    "They fighting! They fighting!" the voice yelled. The music was loud, but those words cut through the throbbing bass.
  6. brawl
    a noisy fight in a crowd
    Logic says to run away from the fight, but there's nothing more entertaining than a good brawl.
  7. faze
    disturb the composure of
    I gave him what seemed like ten blows to the breadbasket, but they didn't faze him!
  8. seep
    pass gradually or leak or as if through small openings
    Needles was heavier than he looked, and I could feel his blood seep through my shirt as I took the steps, one by one.
  9. gingerly
    in a manner marked by extreme care or delicacy
    Noodles jumped, now afraid of me, and started gingerly unbuckling Needles's belt.
  10. flutter
    move back and forth very rapidly
    Needles opened his eyes for a moment, and then the lids fluttered closed again.
  11. aimlessly
    without a specific goal or focus
    By the time I got down the block, Ms. Lee had Sasha up and was half carrying, half dragging her aimlessly down the block, toward Lewis Ave. Somebody shouted, "Call the ambulance!"
  12. sprain
    twist suddenly so as to wrench
    "Needles, good news is, I don't think it's broken," I told him. "Probably just sprained. We'll just ice it." I forced a smile.
  13. disintegrate
    break into parts or components or lose cohesion or unity
    He lay there like some sort of insect, maybe a slug with fresh salt poured on him, disintegrating slowly.
  14. cocky
    overly self-confident or self-assertive
    I waited to see if he would get all cocky, let his ego take control of his tongue.
  15. ego
    an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others
    I waited to see if he would get all cocky, let his ego take control of his tongue.
  16. humble
    marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful
    I did like the fact that he was now humble, but I didn't like the fact that he was acting like a chump.
  17. chump
    a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of
    I did like the fact that he was now humble, but I didn't like the fact that he was acting like a chump.
  18. reflex
    an automatic instinctive unlearned reaction to a stimulus
    My feet were killing me! So when that fool stepped on my foot, my reflex kicked in and I pushed him—just so that he would get off my foot—I swear!
  19. hype
    publicize in an exaggerated and often misleading manner
    But his goons are all around him, still hyping the whole situation.
  20. depressed
    filled with melancholy and despondency
    Ma got all depressed, and down, and started staying out all late with strangers, and coming in looking all beat-up and old.
  21. sturdy
    having rugged physical strength
    I had taken one to the jaw a few times before, messing around with Malloy, enough that it's gotten pretty sturdy over the last few years.
  22. poseur
    a person who habitually pretends to be something he is not
    Or better yet, maybe he was just a selfish poseur, using his daddy as an excuse to be wack.
  23. gasp
    breathe in a heavy or labored way
    I gasped, and blinked madly, trying to see in the light.
  24. inconvenient
    not well timed
    It's funny how his fatherhood kicked in at the most inconvenient times.
  25. antsy
    nervous and unable to relax
    Well, that got my mother all worked up, antsy like the cushion she was sitting on got hot.
  26. wince
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    I winced as my mother softly pressed at each finger, which, believe me, did not feel good.
  27. confrontation
    a hostile disagreement face-to-face
    So, long story short, Noodles had gotten into a stupid confrontation that really wasn't his fault.
  28. genuine
    not pretended; sincerely felt or expressed
    Violence just wasn't her thing, especially when it came to either of her kids, or good, genuine people like Needles.
  29. predictable
    capable of being foretold
    Jazz was jumping from the talk shows to the news and back to the talk shows. It was all so predictable.
  30. foul
    highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
    Jazz got a foul look on her face and turned away. I'm sure she regretted asking to see it.
Created on Sun Jun 24 19:57:08 EDT 2018 (updated Wed Oct 31 10:54:18 EDT 2018)

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