Amelia Lost: List 2

by Candace Fleming
This biography explores the life and mysterious disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
15 words 169 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. aerial
    existing, living, growing, or operating in the air
    After arriving in Los Angeles, she started her own business at Kinner Field, flying passengers, doing aerial advertising and teaching would-be fliers.
  2. blanch
    turn pale, as if in fear
    Amelia blanched. She didn’t have that much money.
  3. aerodynamics
    the branch of mechanics that deals with the motion of gases
    Always the student, she also had a book about aerodynamics tucked under her arm.
  4. throttle
    a valve that regulates the supply of fuel to the engine
    Cutting the plane’s throttle, she yelled, “Did you check [the fuel] personally?”
  5. grudgingly
    in a reluctant manner
    Grudgingly, Amelia went to the phone.
  6. hazardous
    involving risk or danger
    What was this hazardous undertaking?
  7. undertaking
    any piece of work that is attempted
    What was this hazardous undertaking?
  8. poise
    great coolness and composure under strain
    The men were taken by her answers, as well as “her infectious laugh, her poise, warmth and impressive dignity.”
  9. instigate
    serve as the inciting cause of
    “We didn’t want to instigate a race,” wrote Amelia.
  10. haphazard
    marked by great carelessness
    In return, she took him for rides in her sports car, which he dubbed the yellow peril because of her haphazard driving.
  11. blustery
    blowing in violent and abrupt bursts
    In the blustery winds, the aircraft was too heavy.
  12. endorsement
    a promotional statement for or recommendation of a product
    There were interviews and photographs, magazine covers and product endorsements, newsreels and lectures and even a book deal.
  13. exploit
    use or manipulate to one's advantage
    George Putnam knew that once Amelia’s name dropped out of the newspapers, she would be just another female pilot. So he exploited every opportunity to gain publicity for her.
  14. limelight
    a focus of public attention
    Between 1928 and 1937, Amelia was constantly in the limelight.
  15. vagabond
    a wanderer with no established residence or means of support
    “All I wished to do in the world,” she said, “was to be a vagabond — in the air.”
Created on Fri Feb 14 14:34:14 EST 2020 (updated Mon Jun 16 17:02:13 EDT 2025)

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.