125 Words Every 7th Grader Should Know: List 3

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. askew
    turned or twisted to one side
    He looked terrible—his clothes disheveled, his glasses bent and askew. Schooled
  2. contemporary
    belonging to the present time
    The prize showcases new work submitted by contemporary photographers. BBC (Aug 26, 2021)
  3. crude
    belonging to an early stage of technical development
    I myself had found ancient stone tools, very crude and primitive, that had probably been used as hammers. My Life with the Chimpanzees
  4. defiant
    boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
    “I’m not letting them stop me either,” Kaisha said, and she marched up to the stairs, defiant. Anger Is a Gift
  5. fluctuate
    be unstable
    Sixteen percent of American workers’ schedules fluctuate based on their employers’ needs. New York Times (Jul 20, 2021)
  6. haphazard
    dependent upon or characterized by chance
    Brown and black splotches are scattered across the canvas in a haphazard design. You Bring the Distant Near
  7. inconceivable
    totally unlikely
    Will and Lyra were both trembling and weak with fear, exhaustion, nausea, and pain, but giving up was inconceivable. The Amber Spyglass
  8. jeer
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    She only lost control for an instant, but it was enough to make the crowd jeer and cry out, “Coward!” The Strangers
  9. lenient
    characterized by tolerance and mercy
    "I ask the court to be lenient, in consideration of his age," says the attorney. The Boy Who Dared
  10. obliterate
    do away with completely, without leaving a trace
    She had tried to tear him to pieces, to wreck him, to obliterate him. Go Set a Watchman: A Novel
  11. predicament
    an unpleasant or difficult situation
    It’s a predicament that hurts employers, too, as they struggle to keep people on the job. The Guardian (Sep 18, 2019)
  12. resilience
    the ability to recover readily from adversity or change
    According to grit’s advocates, persistence and resilience are far better predictors of success, especially at school, than talent or IQ. The Guardian (Oct 30, 2015)
  13. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    A boy around my age was sprawled across the floor, drawing on a large sheet of paper. The Bridge Home
  14. tarnish
    place under suspicion; make less respected
    Oh, she’d keep their secrets; it would tarnish her reputation otherwise. Throne of Glass
  15. vigilant
    carefully observant or attentive
    I kept a vigilant watch, sometimes rising in the small hours of the night to gaze out at the moonlit lanes and hedgerows. The Shakespeare Stealer
Created on Thu Dec 02 09:33:29 EST 2021 (updated Tue Dec 14 09:12:16 EST 2021)

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