Hearts Unbroken: List 3

by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Louise Wolfe, a Native American teen, gets caught up in controversy (and an unexpected romance) when she and other school newspaper reporters pursue a big story.

This list covers "Musical Reporters" to "A Is for Apolitical."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
35 words 8 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. consummate
    having or revealing supreme mastery or skill
    “A consummate professional who can hold their own, toe-to-toe, with PART founder Mrs. Ney herself.”
  2. backlog
    an accumulation of jobs not done or materials not processed
    They have to prioritize their caseload, and there’s not much to it. No property damage, no bodily harm. No specific threat. The backlog and wait time for running fingerprints is substantial.
  3. substantial
    fairly large
    The backlog and wait time for running fingerprints is substantial.
  4. affiliation
    the act of becoming formally connected or joined
    Across the store, she looked at handcrafted baskets, studied the tags that identified the weavers and their respective tribal affiliations.
  5. peruse
    examine or consider with attention and in detail
    They had a friendly enough chat while I returned the book to its shelf and slipped away to peruse the jewelry case by the register.
  6. insidious
    working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
    It was like an insidious game of dominoes. Peter Ney’s mom had leaned on the Wrestling coach to lean on Daniel to punish, maybe even silence, the Hive like she had last year.
  7. ottoman
    a low seat or a stool to rest the feet of a seated person
    I moved closer to Daniel and rested my knee on the ottoman.
  8. ramification
    a consequence, especially one that causes complications
    Joey had stood up to Cam Ryan’s bullying and didn’t seem to give a damn about the social ramifications.
  9. troglodyte
    a primitive person who lived in a cave
    Joey added, “What I don’t understand about you and Ryan: What the hell did the two of you ever talk about? The guy’s a troglodyte.”
  10. dredge up
    bring to mind something unpleasant from the past
    I didn’t want to dredge up the specifics of what had started the fight between the boys.
  11. deign
    do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
    Tanner normally would’ve never deigned to ride the bus to school...
  12. indicator
    a number or ratio derived from a series of observed facts
    “It’s what you call ‘a possible indicator,”’ he replied. “You know what an indicator is?”
    After checking to make sure my phone app was recording, I said, “I know what an indicator is. I’m sure Hive readers do, too.”
  13. covert
    secret or hidden
    But first he’d given my covert plan his personal blessing.
  14. bylaw
    a rule adopted by an organization
    Because Outdoor Holiday Decorations was one comprehensive category in the homeowners’ association bylaws, the few “Halloween is the devil’s playground” residents had to suck it or they’d lose Christmas and Easter, too.
  15. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    Creaks, moans, screams, and ominous thunder wafted from hidden speakers.
  16. flapper
    an unconventional young woman in the 1920s
    Maybe a half dozen (Frankenstein and his bride, a 1920s flapper and gangster, a firefighter, and Big Bird) wore costumes themselves.
  17. perpetually
    everlastingly; for all time
    A playoff game was scheduled for that first full November weekend, and in the driveway next door, the neighbor’s minivan was perpetually decked out in spirit signs and orange streamers.
  18. cur
    a cowardly and despicable person
    Sitting Bull...is dead....With his fall the nobility of the Redskin is extinguished, and what few are left are a pack of whining curs who lick the hand that smites them.
  19. efface
    remove completely from recognition or memory
    Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced; better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are.
  20. wretch
    someone you feel sorry for
    Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced; better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are.
  21. slate
    a list of candidates nominated by a political party
    “From what I understand, she’d been promised the VP slot when she signed on, but then Isaac and Tanner told her that they’d rearranged the slate after the first round of posters had been printed.”
  22. libel
    a false and malicious publication
    She mentioned in passing that, in Con Law that day, her prof had led a discussion of libel and other legal limits on free speech and the press.
  23. subtly
    in a manner difficult to detect or grasp
    (She was still, not so subtly, urging me to consider majoring in journalism—partly because the William Allen White School at Kansas is one of the top programs in the country.)
  24. reprieve
    a relief from harm or discomfort
    I urged him to the unmade twin bed, longing for a reprieve from the day’s sorrow, and he was inclined to oblige.
  25. mauve
    of a pale to moderate grayish violet color
    I found my bra under the bed, wiggled into it and my mauve cotton sweater, and made a run for the living room.
  26. disheveled
    in disarray; extremely disorderly
    Combing my disheveled hair with my fingers, I positioned myself in the most nonchalant manner I could muster on the loveseat.
  27. nonchalant
    marked by casual unconcern or indifference
    Combing my disheveled hair with my fingers, I positioned myself in the most nonchalant manner I could muster on the loveseat. Then I grabbed a Bible from the lower shelf of the glass coffee table and pretended to read.
  28. galvanize
    cover with zinc
    In the background, the crew constructed apple-tree bases out of heavy plywood and galvanized steel pipes.
  29. ruminate
    reflect deeply on a subject
    While I shook out and awkwardly folded warm fitted sheets, he click-click-clicked one T-shirt after another into a perfect square and ruminated on the musical.
  30. caricature
    a representation of a person exaggerated for comic effect
    The last poster now featured a caricature, drawn in thick black marker. It depicted a Hollywood Indian in a feathered headdress, his heart impaled by the stinger of the Honeybee mascot.
  31. strew
    spread by scattering
    Never mind his clothes strewn about or that it smelled vaguely like sweaty socks.
  32. segue
    proceed without interruption, in music or talk
    I could’ve segued a conversation from his former high-school mascot to my Native identity. I didn’t. Twice I opened my mouth with every intention of saying something—and closed it again.
  33. brood
    think moodily or anxiously about something
    But he tended to swing between brooding about his parents’ divorce and about his cheating ex-girlfriend and ex-bestie.
  34. dote
    shower with love; show excessive affection for
    They’d doted on him (and the baby) at the wedding.
  35. jibe
    be compatible, similar, or consistent
    “The last thing I need is some college admissions director blowing me off because they’ve pulled up an online misquote of something I supposedly said to the Hive that doesn’t jibe with their vibe.”
Created on Mon Jul 06 09:34:30 EDT 2020 (updated Thu Jul 09 11:42:50 EDT 2020)

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.