Ophie's Ghosts: "The Trolley Cars and the Cinema"–"The Hill District"

by Justina Ireland
Following the death of her father, twelve-year-old Ophelia discovers that she can talk to ghosts and that not all ghosts are as nice as they seem.

This list covers "The Trolley Cars and the Cinema"–"The Hill District."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
40 words 12 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. slapstick
    characterized by humorous horseplay and physical action
    There was the newsreel that told of amazing inventions and adventures in far-off lands; there were the cartoons and the slapstick comedies, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
  2. sweeping
    broad in scope or content
    And then there were the proper films, the dramas, sweeping histories and heartbreaking romances.
  3. marquee
    a structure, often with a signboard, over an entrance
    The first one they came to was the Orpheus, but Penelope put her arm around Ophie’s shoulder and dragged her away from there before she could even read the names of the films on the marquee.
  4. relentless
    not willing or able to stop or yield
    But Penelope’s pace was relentless, as if she was worried this might be the last time she’d get to go to the cinema.
  5. dampen
    lessen in force or effect
    The confusion on Penelope’s face dampened some of Ophie’s enthusiasm, but then the older girl shook herself and grinned widely.
  6. disconcerting
    causing an emotional disturbance
    The man was filmy, and staring through him at the screen was like looking through a dense fog. It was somehow more disconcerting than if the haint had been solid.
  7. coif
    the arrangement of the hair
    Even Penelope’s own hot-ironed coif was looking a little frizzy, as she talked nonstop about the movie.
  8. affluent
    having an abundant supply of money or possessions of value
    It was full dark now, and there were fewer streetlamps in this part of the city than in the more affluent neighborhood where Daffodil Manor was located.
  9. wan
    lacking vitality as from weariness or illness or unhappiness
    She grinned as she took a bite of the vanilla cone while Ophie gave her a wan smile.
  10. benign
    pleasant and beneficial in nature or influence
    It seemed like the most benign of tragedies that she didn’t like the chocolate ice cream nearly as much as she had the vanilla.
  11. jaunty
    marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners
    When Ophie had begged him to stay, he’d taken the arm of a pretty white lady and walked away, his hat at a jaunty angle.
  12. ewer
    an open vessel with a handle and a spout for pouring
    It wasn’t often that Ophie woke before her mother, and she used the rare opportunity to tiptoe into Mama’s room and fill the ewer of water in the corner so that it was one less chore Mama had to attend to before she started her day.
  13. belie
    be in contradiction with
    Losing their savings and moving into Daffodil Manor had done something to the older woman’s spirit, causing her skin to go sallow and her eyes to lose the snap of temper that belied Mama’s true feelings even when she was being gracious to folks who didn’t deserve it.
  14. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    Even though Ophie was skeptical about trusting any ghosts at the moment, Colin had never steered her wrong, that she could tell, anyway.
  15. resign
    accept as inevitable
    Cook’s expression matched Mr. Henry’s, grim and resigned, and Ophie knew right then that she, too, was thinking about Clara.
  16. influx
    the process of flowing in
    Their argument had been carrying on for days, until the house was too preoccupied with the influx of new people into its rooms to pay attention.
  17. wizened
    lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness
    “Richard, you must have paid a fortune to have this shipped here!” a particularly wizened old woman said.
  18. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    “I tried to save a little champagne for us, but Cook caught me.” Clara, still inside Penelope's body, sidled up to Ophie and winked, handing her a half-full glass of soda pop.
  19. lapel
    a fold of fabric below the collar of a coat or jacket
    He wore a red rose in his lapel and a new suit.
  20. reconcile
    make compatible with
    It was difficult for Ophie to reconcile the mean old woman she’d worked for the past few months with the woman wearing the beautifully beaded gown, her sparse hair combed into a gorgeous updo.
  21. smattering
    a small number or amount
    At that, the white folks all held up their glasses, and there was a smattering of applause.
  22. demure
    suggestive of modesty or reserve
    Everyone exclaimed as a plain-looking white woman dressed in a demure flapper-style dress ascended the stairs to join Richard and his mother.
  23. hitch
    an unforeseen obstacle
    The dinner service went off without a hitch, much to Mama’s delight.
  24. laden
    filled with a great quantity
    She lifted the food- laden dishes easily and removed them soundlessly, and if the wizened old woman who had guzzled her champagne kept asking her for a refill of her wine, a request Ophie could not accommodate even if she had wanted to, then it was a small price to pay for the dinner progressing quickly, and without incident.
  25. disconsolate
    sad beyond comforting; incapable of being soothed
    She wasn’t crying, but she turned the pages of a True Romances magazine disconsolately.
  26. terse
    brief and to the point
    Ophie bit her lip in frustration but nodded tersely.
  27. subtle
    difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
    The body was still mostly Penelope’s, but she could see bits of Clara coming to the surface, subtle changes that made Ophie’s stomach turn.
  28. mannerism
    a behavioral attribute that is distinctive to an individual
    Penelope was gone and there in her place was Clara. Not Penelope with Clara’s mannerisms, but Clara as she must have looked when she was living.
  29. reclaim
    reassert one's right or title to
    Her skin rippled in an inhuman way, as though Penelope fought to reclaim her body and couldn’t.
  30. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    Nothing good would come of leaving Clara in Penelope’s body—as much disdain as Ophie had for the racist old woman, she couldn’t let Clara kill her.
  31. inert
    unable to move or resist motion
    Ophie lunged toward the girl’s inert body, pulling out the tortoiseshell comb.
  32. tableau
    any dramatic scene
    She took one look at the tableau before her and pushed her way past Richard and his fiancée to gather up Ophie into her arms, her gaze locked on Mrs. Caruthers.
  33. slight
    a deliberate discourteous act
    Richard didn’t understand why his family was gasping, thinking that it was because of the slight to his new fiancée.
  34. ordeal
    a severe or trying experience
    The girl was happy to do her part, no longer sullen, and far kinder than she had been before the ordeal.
  35. naught
    a quantity of no importance
    When the ghost of one of Mrs. Caruthers’s sons finally appeared, in uniform with his hand tightly gripping a bottle, Ophie laid a hand on his arm, which was naught but chilly vapor.
  36. breach
    an opening, especially a gap in a dike or fortification
    “You’re right. Thank you. Once more, unto the breach,” he said before fading away into blue sparks that smelled vaguely of sulfur.
  37. relish
    derive or receive pleasure from
    She sat down next to him, relishing the shade.
  38. inhospitable
    unfavorable to life or growth
    Spring was sizzling into summer, and even the deepest shadows of Daffodil Manor were inhospitable.
  39. conjure
    summon into action or bring into existence
    There were whispers of spirits and haints, and even the conjure woman called in to cleanse the place said that there was nothing to be done.
  40. chagrin
    a feeling of annoyance or distress due to disappointment or failure
    And if they used a bit more salt than necessary those first few weeks, much to the chagrin of the neighborhood’s ghosts, the mother did not complain.
Created on Sun Jan 09 10:16:45 EST 2022 (updated Thu Jan 13 13:10:22 EST 2022)

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