The Best at It: Chapters 1–4

by Maulik Pancholy
In a small town in Indiana, twelve-year-old Rahul Kapoor struggles against bullies to follow his grandfather’s advice to find one thing he’s really good at and become the best at it.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–10, Chapters 11–15, Chapters 16–25, Chapters 26–37
35 words 76 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. flourish
    a showy gesture
    The song comes to a finish, and Chelsea throws her arms in the air and bows with a flourish.
  2. clamber
    climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
    We clamber up the stairs.
  3. sweltering
    excessively hot and humid; marked by sweating and faintness
    He tugs on his wool hat and adjusts his cardigan, his eyes twinkling in my direction. Even though it’s sweltering, Bhai never strays from his signature look.
  4. suppress
    control and refrain from showing
    Chelsea suppresses a laugh as I bat away at the green and black sunspots dancing in front of my face.
  5. maneuver
    move skillfully, as around obstacles or into a position
    You might be thinking, how on earth could a twelve-year-old kid not beat a seventy-two-year-old man in a wheelchair? Well, you haven’t met Bhai. He maneuvers that chair like it’s a Lamborghini.
  6. coddle
    treat with excessive indulgence
    We also have an agreement: he doesn’t baby me just because I’m twelve, and I don’t coddle him just because he’s got sixty years on me.
  7. taunt
    harass with persistent criticism or carping
    I’m just a few feet behind him now, and Bhai whips his head over his shoulder again and taunts me. “It’s just to Mr. McCarter’s Jeep! You better catch up!”
  8. earful
    a severe scolding
    Luckily Bhai is too far away to hear him, or Brent would get an earful about disrespecting his elders.
  9. amble
    walk leisurely
    Brent ambles across Justin’s lawn in a muscle T, annihilating patches of innocent grass with his gigantic flip-flops.
  10. annihilate
    kill in large numbers
    Brent ambles across Justin’s lawn in a muscle T, annihilating patches of innocent grass with his gigantic flip-flops. A dandelion snaps in half underneath him.
  11. deadpan
    speak in a deliberately impassive or serious manner
    “Wait, wait, wait! I have a serious question!” he deadpans. “Would you call that thing that you’re doing ‘running’?” Then he doubles over laughing.
  12. guffaw
    laugh boisterously
    “Yo, J., did you see how Rahul runs?” Brent guffaws.
  13. flail
    thrash about
    He starts flailing his arms and kicking his legs around every which way.
  14. scrawny
    being very thin
    I cross my arms to hide my own scrawny muscles.
  15. sappy
    very sentimental or emotional
    Air Supply is a 1980s British-Australian soft-rock band known for sappy romantic songs like “All Out of Love” and “Even the Nights Are Better,” the lyrics to which NO ONE should ever have to hear their dad sing.
  16. casually
    in an unconcerned manner
    “Was he okay?” I ask, casually peeking down the street to see if there are any damaged garage doors I hadn’t noticed before.
  17. strut
    walk in a proud, confident way
    He struts up the driveway, humming a tune under his breath.
  18. chastise
    scold or criticize severely
    “Why would I?” he chastises me. “You stopped running halfway through!”
  19. tinge
    a slight but appreciable amount
    I feel a tinge of panic in my stomach.
  20. nestle
    lie in a sheltered position
    I unzip the main pocket. Two new five-subject notebooks. Check. Summer math homework nestled safely inside a manila folder. Check.
  21. relentless
    not willing or able to stop or yield
    “I MEAN IT!” Mom is relentless.
  22. extract
    remove, usually with some force or effort
    We both plop ourselves down on the bench by the front door and extract our sneakers from the shoe-filled cubbyholes below us.
  23. clique
    an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
    We make our way to the seventh-grade section, which is a total cliquefest. We like to sit right up front, which means we have to pass, well, everybody on the way up.
  24. teeter
    move unsteadily, with a rocking motion
    “Very cool,” David says, and Chelsea teeters back so far, I hover my hand behind her just in case she fully tips over.
  25. bound
    move forward by leaping
    “Hey, Rahul! Hey, Chelsea!” Jenny Ikeda, who’s in our grade, comes bounding up to our group, her straight black hair pulled back in a ponytail.
  26. podium
    a platform raised above the surrounding level
    Principal Jacobson walks up to the podium.
  27. gargantuan
    of great mass; huge and bulky
    It seems like this whole week, he’s everywhere I turn. And because this is my life, of course I got assigned the seat right behind him and his gargantuan neck in final-period math.
  28. solitary
    single and isolated from others
    A solitary dandruff flake tumbles out of Brent’s hair and flutters ever so slowly toward my desk.
  29. mesmerizing
    attracting and holding interest as if by a spell
    I try my best not to look at it, but it’s just too mesmerizing.
  30. unison
    the act of occurring together or simultaneously
    “Are you boys paying attention?”
    “Yes,” we answer in unison.
  31. contort
    twist and press out of shape
    Brent contorts his face so hard that all his freckles get rearranged.
  32. defiance
    an act boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
    Brent’s upper lip curls ever so slightly, and a flicker of defiance flashes behind his eyes.
  33. beeline
    the most direct route
    The whole class is making a beeline toward the door.
  34. scrawl
    write carelessly
    There, in red marker, on the top of my summer math homework, he’s scrawled a big “100%,” followed by his signature exclamation point and two underlines.
  35. impeccable
    without error or flaw
    “Your work was impeccable, Rahul! Excellent understanding of all the concepts and great attention to detail.”
Created on Fri Sep 09 19:49:45 EDT 2022 (updated Sun Sep 17 16:42:38 EDT 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.