Aru Shah and the End of Time: Chapters 16–23

by Roshani Chokshi
When 12-year-old Aru Shah lights a cursed lamp in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, she releases an ancient demon. Now she must find a way to stop the demon and rescue her friends and family.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–15, Chapters 16–23, Chapters 24–33, Chapters 34–44
40 words 93 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. dapple
    color with streaks or blotches of different shades
    The fourth section was bright and dry, sunlight dappling the leaves.
  2. bourgeois
    conforming to the conventions of the middle class
    “How boring! How bourgeois!”
  3. smolder
    burn slowly and without a flame
    Summer wore a tunic of flames. Their skin was the color of a smoldering ember, red-veined with fire.
  4. sartorial
    of or relating to tailoring or clothing
    “My little sartorially challenged slip of a girl, we are ateliers. We dress the world itself. I embroider the earth with ice and frost, the most delicate silk in the world.”
  5. atelier
    a studio especially for an artist or designer
    “My little sartorially challenged slip of a girl, we are ateliers. We dress the world itself. I embroider the earth with ice and frost, the most delicate silk in the world.”
  6. grovel
    show submission or fear
    “I don’t like groveling any more than you do, but this is no time to be proud.”
  7. languid
    lacking spirit or liveliness
    Their voice, which had been blistering before, had turned warm and languid.
  8. adversary
    someone who offers opposition
    “Forget can be a powerful tool for distracting an adversary. It can leave them feeling scorched and barren. Whoever wears this will forget something important.”
  9. meander
    move or cause to move in a winding or curving course
    “Then by all means, meander slowly and ponderously until my feathers molt,” said Boo.
  10. ponderous
    slow and laborious because of weight
    “Then by all means, meander slowly and ponderously until my feathers molt,” said Boo.
  11. coalesce
    fuse or cause to come together
    Before her eyes, the skin from the ceiling dripped down, coalescing into the shape of a man.
  12. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    “Who else would smile as she slid the knife into my chest?” the Sleeper chided.
  13. adulation
    exaggerated flattery or praise
    Adulation was singing. Pink hearts kept oozing from its pages.
  14. stark
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    It reminded Aru of walking to school on a cold February morning, when the sun was bright but distant and everything was a little too stark.
  15. cliche
    a trite or obvious remark
    “You slept in a lamp for a hundred years and that’s the best you could come up with?” shouted back Aru. “What a cliché. All you’re missing is the villain mustache.”
  16. addled
    confused and vague; used especially of thinking
    “Your quarrel is not with them,” Boo said to the Sleeper.
    “My, you have become quite the addled one,” said the Sleeper.
  17. penance
    voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for something
    “You’re telling me you have actually been tasked to help the Pandavas? What is this, your penance for committing so horrible a sin?”
    “No,” said Boo, and this time he looked at Aru and Mini. “It is not my penance. It is my honor.”
  18. valor
    courage when facing danger
    “A headband? I’m trembling with fear. Now, let’s be honest. I could kill you easily. Two little girls. No training, no valor. Do you really think you can get the celestial weapons?”
  19. titter
    laugh nervously
    The books around her tittered and gossiped.
  20. hubbub
    loud confused noise from many sources
    The hubbub of the B section faded and was replaced by new sounds: the rustling of wings; the clop of hooves on the floor; the chuffing of a tiger.
  21. burnish
    polish and make shiny
    There was a beautiful burnished orange tiger.
  22. stately
    refined or imposing in manner or appearance
    A stately peacock that trailed jewels.
  23. eloquence
    powerful and effective language
    Every so often, she saw a vending machine. But they didn’t offer candy or chips. Instead they had things like “seven hours of sleep,” “a good daydream,” “a very good daydream” (with, Aru noticed, a strange winking face beside it), “a shot of eloquence,” and a miniature antibacterial hand sanitizer.
  24. stickler
    someone who insists on something
    She tried to dump out the liquid, but it didn’t budge. Magic was often a stickler for rules.
  25. phalanx
    any of the bones of the fingers or toes
    “Cool! It’s a bone! I wonder if it was like a phalanx, or maybe a—”
  26. devoid
    completely wanting or lacking
    She kept imagining faceless ghosts behind the door. Fires that never went out. A sky devoid of stars.
  27. enlightenment
    the beatitude that transcends the cycle of reincarnation
    Your soul could live hundreds—maybe even thousands—of lives before you got out of the loop of life and death by achieving enlightenment.
  28. brindled
    having a gray or brown streak or a patchy coloring
    Ek and Do each had two rows of eyes, and short brindled fur.
  29. rend
    tear or be torn violently
    “I don’t really feel like rending someone apart,” mourned Do, even as his fur turned more bristly and his fangs elongated.
  30. metaphorical
    expressing one thing in terms normally denoting another
    “I meant ‘tails’ in a metaphorical sense,” said Ek.
    “What’s that mean?”
    “Metaphorical means symbolic, Do..."
  31. per se
    with respect to its inherent nature
    They don’t have tails per se, but they have a top and a bottom.
  32. loll
    hang loosely or laxly
    One fat pink tongue lolled out the side of his mouth.
  33. solicitor
    a petitioner who seeks contributions or trade or votes
    Before her, she could just make out the letters of a hanging office sign that said:
    KARMA & SINS
    Est. at the first hiccup of time
    Please, no solicitors
  34. indulgence
    remission by the pope of temporal punishment in purgatory
    As of the 15th century, indulgences are no longer permitted.
  35. halting
    proceeding in a fragmentary, hesitant, or ineffective way
    Aru typed out a response, and then pronounced it haltingly.
  36. bulbous
    rounded and bulging
    Inside the room, a kind-eyed man with a bulbous nose sat at a desk.
  37. ploy
    a maneuver in a game, conversation, or situation
    “I must say, though, that’s a rather clever ploy to get out of death, claiming to be my child.”
  38. karma
    effects of one's actions that determine his or her destiny
    He was the one who kept a record of everything a soul had ever done, both good and bad. This was why karma mattered. Her mom used to say, Chitrigupta will see and write down everything.
  39. patriarchy
    a form of social organization in which men hold power
    His shirt changed to say: THIS IS WHAT A FEMINIST LOOKS LIKE. “Upend the patriarchy! R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Et cetera, et cetera. And you got past Ek and Do, too. Well done, well done.”
  40. latent
    potentially existing but not presently evident or realized
    He was a latent Pandava. His divine powers were hidden, even to him, and there were no calamities that forced his inner godhood to awaken.
Created on Tue Jun 18 14:28:13 EDT 2019 (updated Tue Jul 02 15:42:14 EDT 2019)

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