Charming as Verb: Chapters 18–26

by Ben Philippe
In this romantic comedy, Henri, a Haitian-American teenager who dreams of attending Columbia University, is coerced into helping one of his classmates change her image.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–10, Chapters 11–17, Chapters 18–26, Chapter 27–Epilogue
40 words 64 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. brouhaha
    loud confused noise from many sources
    I shout out in the brouhaha of tour
ists and cross-country travelers pouring out of the Amtrak 69


 train and into Montreal, still carrying that New York quickstep 
in their walk.
  2. dissertation
    a treatise advancing a point of view resulting from research
    I imagine all the tea and rye toast that Chantale spent a 
lifetime eating while working on dissertations were replaced 
by muffins topped with butter, cupcakes, and donuts for this
 larger-than-life version of Chantale, emanating joy with every 
fiber of her being.
  3. platitude
    a trite or obvious remark
    “Okay, okay: no platitudes. I hate getting those myself,” she
 says.
  4. impudent
    improperly forward or bold
    She throws me a look as though she’s considering all the
 bullet points associated with the term and assessing whether or not I meet them. Hus-sy / 'hə-sē / Impudent, immoral, loose 
person.
  5. philanderer
    a man who likes many women
    You’d be more of a player or womanizer or a philanderer or 
a roué, even.
  6. doppelganger
    a person who is almost identical to another
    The weight of
 North American travels, maybe; of being in Cana-freaking-da,
 in this strange doppelganger’s home, with Corinne a door away;
 of having a McGill interview on the docket in less than eleven 
hours.
  7. docket
    a temporally organized plan for matters to be attended to
    The weight of
 North American travels, maybe; of being in Cana-freaking-da,
 in this strange doppelganger’s home, with Corinne a door away;
 of having a McGill interview on the docket in less than eleven 
hours.
  8. forgo
    do without or cease to hold or adhere to
    After slipping down two separate ice patches in my 
weather-inappropriate Jordans, I forgo my pride and hold on
to a sidewalk railing the whole way up the hill, even if it means
 getting outpaced by two white-haired men who probably got 
tenure a century ago.
  9. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    “...It just
 stings when other people notice it too,” the man goes on to 
say, scoping out the room of contenders with a mix of disdain 
and apprehension.
  10. disaffected
    discontented as toward authority
    They look closer
 to the disaffected twenty-something-year-old New Yorkers you 
see hanging around St. Marks Place in the summer, arms full
 of sleeves and sides of heads androgynously shaved.
  11. unbridled
    not restrained or controlled
    The pro
gram doesn’t require them. Just ‘An Unbridled Passion and an
 Open Mind,’ whatever the hell that means.
  12. penance
    voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for something
    “I hate high school.”
    “Our penance for sins committed in a past life,” Ming agrees.
  13. eclectic
    selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas
    The more time I spend with her outside
 of FATE’s uniform, the more I’ve come to realize that Corinne 
very much has her own sense of style. It’s a little eclectic and
 thrown together, but it often all lines up into effortlessly trendy 
like today.
  14. duress
    compulsory force or threat
    Her laughter is weird and nervous. Not unlike the Cori days 
of crashing parties together under duress.
  15. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    Anyone else might make it tedious, but I have a feeling
 Corinne could make any Wikipedia-lifted bit of history sound 
like the most fascinating thing in the world.
  16. snide
    expressive of contempt
    “The snide remarks are just their defense mecha
nisms.”
  17. stalwart
    possessing or displaying courage
    Corinne’s eyes widen for a split second, but her stalwart 
chin comes right back up.
  18. inconsequential
    lacking worth or importance
    It’s like everything that is normally worrying becomes vaguely inconsequential in the backdrop of this little spark that dances 
between us when we talk and turns into a static shock the 
moment our hands touch.
  19. berate
    censure severely or angrily
    Every tenant is used to looking the other way after
 overhearing Cloutier berating this or that building employee.
  20. contrite
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
    “We’re trying our best to pinpoint the problem, Mrs. Cloutier,” Dad says, polite and contrite.
  21. versed
    thoroughly acquainted through study or experience
    “Neither of us is well versed in functional relationships,
 albeit for very different reasons,” she goes on to explain.
  22. precept
    a rule of personal conduct
    The rest of the precepts are very reasonable if not outright
 welcome in soothing some of my lingering dating anxieties.
  23. incisive
    demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
    “I used many sources, and Teen Vogue has pretty incisive political coverage these days, by the way. It was all very insightful.”
  24. inherent
    existing as an essential constituent or characteristic
    There’s an inherent competition to college applications. Even if two applicants aren’t
 courting the same school.
  25. furtively
    in a secretive manner
    In the computer lab, online application portals can be 
spotted being furtively logged on to and then xed out of in frustration when the “pending” status hasn’t been updated.
  26. strident
    unpleasantly loud and harsh
    Palm Tree suddenly whips his head around at a strident
 sound that my clicker did not make.
  27. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
    “Anyway, reverie over,” she says, getting to work removing 
her boots.
  28. prosaic
    lacking wit or imagination
    She starts
 every new piece of correspondence with an I hope all is well, no 
matter how prosaic or dry the rest of the email reads.
  29. perfunctory
    as a formality only
    Only departmental exchanges, 
friendly correspondence with some students, and perfunctory
 ones with others.
  30. prowess
    a superior skill learned by study and practice
    She could convince you 
she’s made entirely out of academic prowess and conviction.
  31. culmination
    a final climactic stage
    It’s hard to feel some Rocky culmination of a full
 season of debates and weekly practices all happening on the 
second floor, next to the good bathrooms.
  32. brethren
    people who are members of the same social or cultural group
    Every meet
 a handful of alternates and cheerleaders could be seen on the
 sidelines, cheering for their Spencey brethren.
  33. adamant
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
    He was adamant that we 
unplug for practices this week.
  34. joie de vivre
    a keen or exuberant enjoyment of life
    “Dude, where’s 
your joie de vivre? We got in!”
  35. miasma
    an unwholesome atmosphere
    “I’m sorry...what?” I ask when Vu repeats the same word enough that it pierces through the miasma.
  36. convoluted
    highly complex or intricate
    The rest of the story is nowhere near as convoluted as it
 feels in my head. It’s a very simple and straightforward series of 
colossally stupid decisions.
  37. galvanize
    stimulate to action
    “They—they can’t just accuse you of something like that,” he says after firmly shutting off the computer, galvanized to 
now go jangle a second locked door.
  38. maelstrom
    a powerful circular current of water
    Ma chimes in with a quiet "You didn’t have to do this, Henri,” 
but it’s a teacup against the maelstrom.
  39. dour
    showing a brooding ill humor
    Haitian relatives I’ve never met are 
sitting in a line in tiny crooked frames along the kitchen wall,
 and all look appropriately somber for the occasion. They watch
 the proceedings with dour frowns because no Haitian ever smiles in portrait photos, ever.
  40. edict
    a formal or authoritative proclamation
    There’s no follow-up, no waiting for me to reply. It’s an edict 
from her that won’t be crossed.
Created on Tue Feb 09 12:20:48 EST 2021 (updated Tue Feb 16 16:56:08 EST 2021)

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.