City of Saints and Thieves: Chapters 19–26

by Natalie C. Anderson
Following the murder of her mother, sixteen-year old Tina is on a quest for revenge. She must survive Sangui City's dangerous streets while waiting for a chance to avenge her mother's death.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–9, Chapters 10–18, Chapters 19–26, Chapters 27–37, Chapters 38–44
35 words 8 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. listless
    lacking zest or vivacity
    When I’m cleaned up, I wander listlessly back downstairs, but I can still hear Michael’s mother letting him have it in the living room.
  2. flounder
    move clumsily or struggle to move, as in mud or water
    For a second I flounder in the dark.
  3. chastise
    scold or criticize severely
    I wait for him to chastise me again, to warn me not to mess up, but he just says, “You got this, Tiny Girl. Soon as you’re done, you can get out of that house. Get back to real life.”
  4. amiss
    not functioning properly
    I hold my breath, waiting to see if he notices anything amiss, but his tired posture doesn’t change.
  5. hyperventilate
    breathe excessively hard and fast
    Boyboy has stopped hyperventilating.
  6. tariff
    a government tax on imports or exports
    Don’t let Huan-Xi give you any trouble about tariffs.
  7. transfixed
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    I stare, transfixed as he picks it up and turns it over in his hands.
  8. iridescent
    varying in color when seen in different lights
    Iridescent sunbirds shoot through the mist, flinging themselves from flower to flower.
  9. sterile
    deficient in originality or creativity
    But little by little, every time I went back, the place seemed more and more strange. It was too cold, too sterile. The stores were full of things that you could only buy in absurd quantities.
  10. glib
    artfully persuasive in speech
    My glibness evaporates. “Are you even trying?”
  11. smidgen
    a tiny or scarcely detectable amount
    Michael looks frustrated, but he doesn’t know what magic Boyboy can do with just a smidgen of information.
  12. demure
    suggestive of modesty or reserve
    His outfit is more demure today—a studded leather jacket and pants in a color he would probably call something like sea foam.
  13. ostentatiously
    in a manner intended to attract notice and impress others
    He cracks his knuckles ostentatiously.
  14. liquidate
    convert into cash
    Liquidating bank accounts!
  15. vermilion
    of a vivid red to reddish-orange color
    I’ve already picked out the bag I’m going to buy with my cut: a Louboutin clutch in vermilion patent leather.
  16. munition
    weapons considered collectively
    Here’s what he actually paid for: Security advice equals two tons light munitions. All of this below is the exact invoice list—a bunch of guns and stuff.
  17. pensive
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    “Hey, before you go back to being all pensive and uncommunicative, do you want to see the last thing I found?”
  18. tout
    someone who advertises for customers in a brazen way
    Hawkers, touts, pickpockets, and travelers press past one another in the early sun.
  19. furtively
    in a secretive manner
    Wide-eyed men and women from up-country clutch their bags to their armpits and furtively count out bills stashed in bosoms and underwear.
  20. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    Steely-eyed men and women who work the buses and market stalls watch them with predatory disdain.
  21. bluster
    a swaggering show of courage
    “Waiting for you, of course,” Boyboy says, puffing up his chest. He’s going for bluster, but he shrinks under my scowl.
  22. indignant
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    Boyboy puts an indignant fist to his hip.
  23. paunchy
    having a large belly
    He managed to get us a lift with a lorry driver who had a lazy eye and a paunchy belly.
  24. clamor
    utter or proclaim insistently and noisily
    When it’s time to go, I find myself in a scrum of bodies, all of them tugging overstuffed suitcases and clamoring to jump into the back of the truck at the last minute without paying the touts.
  25. interloper
    someone who intrudes on the privacy or property of another
    Our tout fends them off, sweating and shouting and slapping at the interlopers, with his belly coming loose from under his shirt.
  26. earnest
    characterized by a firm, sincere belief in one's opinions
    I cringe at Michael’s earnest diction, but the skeleton men eat it up.
  27. distraught
    deeply agitated especially from emotion
    “Your nephew? That small boy?” Skeleton Man One asks, looking distraught.
  28. reciprocate
    act, feel, or give mutually or in return
    He wants me to reciprocate. But I’m not used to opening up and talking like this, to sharing.
  29. haggle
    wrangle, as over a price or terms of an agreement
    They only care about getting paid. They don’t haggle. If you don’t want to pay what they ask, they push you to the side and take the next person in line behind you, who already has her money out and ready.
  30. mange
    a skin disease causing inflammation, itching, and hair loss
    The guest rooms curve around the pool and lawn, and what was maybe once a restaurant, though it’s abandoned now, with broken tables and chairs propped up against the wall and a thatched roof that looks like it has mange.
  31. pallet
    a mattress filled with straw or a pad made of quilts
    There are fifty or so hospital beds crammed in together, and there are even more bodies on pallets on the floor.
  32. tentative
    hesitant or lacking confidence; unsettled in mind or opinion
    Michael takes a tentative bite, grunts with approval, and is soon digging in.
  33. subside
    wear off or die down
    The talking subsides and there are only the sounds of spoons clinking on plates while the nuns turn expectantly to us for an answer.
  34. discreet
    not easily noticeable
    One of the nuns discreetly makes the sign of the cross over her chest.
  35. subtle
    difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
    “Do you know her?” Michael asks, subtle as ever, when no one responds.
Created on Tue Aug 23 10:31:07 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Sep 23 12:42:54 EDT 2022)

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