The Burning Maze: Chapters 1–7

by Rick Riordan
In this third book of the series The Trials of Apollo, Lester, guided by the satyr Grover, must trace a deadly course to find the master of the swift white horse and reach the Tiber river.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–15, Chapters 16–24, Chapters 25–33, Chapters 34–47
40 words 111 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. posterity
    all future generations
    On top of all that, Zeus wants me to record my shame for posterity.
  2. dilapidated
    in a state of decay, ruin, or deterioration
    For two days, we had traveled the Labyrinth—across pits of darkness and around lakes of poison, through dilapidated shopping malls with only discount Halloween stores and questionable Chinese food buffets.
  3. pageboy
    a smooth hair style with the ends of the hair curled inward
    Cobwebs streaked her dark pageboy haircut.
  4. scimitar
    a curved saber used in Eastern countries
    Brave words, but he kept his eyes on the twin rings around Meg’s middle fingers, perhaps worried she might summon her golden scimitars and slice him into rotisserie-style cabrito.
  5. brusque
    rudely abrupt or blunt in speech or manner
    “Three more days,” I said, cutting her off. “We know.”
    Perhaps I was too brusque, but I didn’t need a reminder about the other part of the prophecy.
  6. evasive
    deliberately vague or ambiguous
    As he had for the last two days, Grover remained evasive. “Best not to talk about it...here.”
  7. emanate
    proceed or issue forth, as from a source
    Judging from the smells that emanated from some of the corridors, I was fairly sure it had a lower intestine at least.
  8. wistful
    showing pensive sadness
    His expression turned wistful, as it often did when he referred to his old adventures with his best friend, Percy Jackson.
  9. taper
    diminish gradually
    Soon the passage narrowed and tapered, forcing us to crouch and waddle in single file.
  10. extraction
    taking out something
    I felt as if Hephaestus had just performed one of his famous tooth extractions on me and I was still under the influence of his giggle nectar.
  11. mull
    reflect deeply on a subject
    Since leaving Indianapolis, I’d spent a lot of time mulling over the Dark Prophecy we had received in the Cave of Trophonius.
  12. intone
    speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch
    TOOKEST THEE LONG ENOUGH, intoned the arrow.
  13. entrails
    internal organs collectively
    THE BIRDS MAY BE REPELLED WITH PIG ENTRAILS, it reported.
  14. peal
    a deep prolonged sound
    Below us, with a peal of bloodthirsty shrieks, the strixes broke through the tomato barricade and swarmed into the room.
  15. tuber
    a fleshy underground stem or root, often used as food
    “Those are tubers,” Grover wheezed. “I think an arbutus is a fruit plant.”
  16. cavort
    play boisterously
    Ah, what good times the nature god and I had had in ancient days, dancing and cavorting in the wilderness!
  17. stanch
    stop the flow of a liquid
    She had ripped off her left legging and used it to stanch the bleeding cut on her thigh, but the fabric was already soaked through.
  18. genus
    taxonomic group containing one or more species
    “Strawberries don’t grow on trees. They’re genus Fragaria, part of the rose family.”
  19. camaraderie
    the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability
    I remembered sitting with them at the campfire, singing “My Mother Was a Minotaur” as we ate burnt marshmallows off a stick. Such perfect camaraderie is rare, even in an immortal life.
  20. supplicate
    make a humble, earnest petition
    The woman raised her arms in a supplicating gesture.
  21. opulence
    wealth as evidenced by sumptuous living
    Normally such a place would have blazed with light throughout the night, as a show of power and opulence, but the torches on this terrace were dark, wrapped in black cloth.
  22. labored
    requiring or showing effort
    A second man appeared, marching onto the terrace with the clink of armor and the labored breathing of a heavyset fighter.
  23. euphemism
    an inoffensive expression substituted for an offensive one
    Princeps. Latin for first in line or first citizen—that lovely euphemism the Roman emperors used to downplay just how absolute their power was.
  24. reedy
    thin and high-pitched in tone
    “Are you sure this time?” asked a young, reedy voice.
  25. sprawling
    spreading out in different directions
    Sun-blasted ocher mountains ringed a valley patchworked with unnaturally green golf courses, dusty barren flats, and sprawling neighborhoods of white stucco walls, red-tiled roofs, and blue swimming pools.
  26. listless
    lacking zest or vivacity
    Lining the streets, rows of listless palm trees stuck up like raggedy seams.
  27. detritus
    the remains of something that has been destroyed or finished
    Judging from the detritus that littered the hillside—shards of glass, charred planks, blackened clumps of brick—I guessed that the house must have burned down many years before.
  28. corrugated
    shaped into alternating parallel grooves and ridges
    The second hut’s corrugated polycarbonate walls and roof had fallen apart like a house of cards.
  29. coalesce
    fuse or cause to come together
    The droplets coalesced into a small girl with emerald skin, spiky yellow hair, and a fringe dress made entirely of cactus bristles.
  30. swoon
    pass out from weakness or physical or emotional distress
    And at that moment, Meg McCaffrey decided to faint.
    I could have told her that swooning in front of an attractive boy was never cool.
  31. cistern
    an artificial reservoir for storing liquids
    “She needs water.”
    Pear sniffed. “Don’t we all.”
    “Take her to the Cistern,” Al said.
  32. veritable
    not counterfeit or copied
    His mouth was a veritable cornucopia of drool.
  33. manifest
    reveal its presence or make an appearance
    With the fires and the heat, the cacti are the only nature spirits that can still manifest.
  34. monogram
    a graphic symbol consisting of 2 or more letters combined
    “All we know is that he uses the monogram NH,” said Grover. “For Neos Helios.”
  35. placard
    a sign posted in a public place
    An endcap display featured a Christmas tree built of stacked propane tanks with garlands of blowtorch hoses, and a placard that read ’TIS ALWAYS THE SEASON!
  36. Stygian
    dark and dismal as of the river in Hades
    Some heroes do indeed use firearms, but their ammo must be crafted from magical metals—Celestial bronze, Imperial gold, Stygian iron, and so on.
  37. impassive
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
    He was flanked by two employees, both staring impassively into space, holding label guns.
  38. retinue
    the group following and attending to some important person
    “B-but my friends,” I stammered. “You can’t kill the satyrs. A god of my stature can’t be rolled up in a red carpet without my retinue!”
  39. praetor
    an annually elected magistrate of the ancient Roman Republic
    I remembered my dream of the imperial palace, the praetor kneeling before his new emperor.
  40. abashed
    feeling or caused to feel uneasy and self-conscious
    “You killed Emperor Tiberius,” I said. “Smothered him with a pillow.”
    Macro looked abashed.
Created on Fri Sep 02 11:43:10 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Feb 03 10:36:48 EST 2023)

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.