Insurgent: Chapters 1–9

by Veronica Roth
In the sequel to Divergent, Tris faces difficult choices as war rages between the factions of a dystopian Chicago.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–9, Chapters 10–18, Chapters 19–27, Chapters 28–37, Chapters 38–47

Here are links to our lists for the trilogy: Divergent,Insurgent, Allegiant
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. amity
    a state of friendship and cordiality
    An Amity nurse gives me a salve--developed by Erudite to speed healing—to put on my shoulder, and then escorts Peter to the hospital ward to mend his arm.
  2. fate
    your overall circumstances or condition in life
    “The Amity are meeting in a half hour.” He quirks his eyebrows and adds, with a touch of melodrama, “To decide our fate.”
  3. shrivel
    decrease in size, range, or extent
    I am afraid that if I start to sob, I will never stop until I shrivel up like a raisin.
  4. render
    cause to become
    But mostly I miss the fears of the past few weeks, rendered small by my fears now.
  5. urgent
    compelling immediate action
    “We have before us today an urgent question,” she says, "which is: How will we conduct ourselves in this time of conflict as people who pursue peace?”
  6. efficiency
    skillfulness in avoiding wasted time and effort
    “They don’t care about efficiency,” Tobias says. “They care about agreement.
  7. abide
    put up with something or somebody unpleasant
    “You are welcome to stay here if and only if you can abide by our rules,” she says.
  8. jeopardize
    put at risk
    Most of the leaders of this city risked their lives to protect it from Jeanine and died, and I will not jeopardize it now for the sake of sating your selfish curiosity.
  9. exaggerate
    enlarge beyond bounds or the truth
    I think there probably is some information the Abnegation knew that Jeanine wanted to know, but I think he’s exaggerating its importance.
  10. instinct
    inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to stimuli
    But my instinct was to believe Marcus, and I usually trust my instincts.
  11. revelation
    an enlightening or astonishing disclosure
    When I found out that I was Divergent... when I found out that Erudite would attack Abnegation . . . those revelations changed everything. The truth has a way of changing a person’s plans.
  12. intuition
    instinctive knowing, without the use of rational processes
    But it is difficult to persuade Tobias to do something he doesn’t want to do, and even more difficult to justify my feelings with no evidence except my intuition.
  13. conscience
    motivation deriving from ethical or moral principles
    Not all the Erudite are power hungry and devoid of conscience, like their leader, Jeanine Matthews.
  14. insufficient
    of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement
    But they are essential—without them, there would be inefficient farming, insufficient medical treatments, and no technological advance.
  15. resolution
    finding an answer to a problem
    “In their enthusiasm for conflict resolution, the Amity have apparently forgotten that meddling creates more conflict,” says Tobias.
  16. conflict
    a hostile meeting of opposing military forces
    We believe that, given the inevitability of further conflict in our city, it would be selfish of us to stay here while what remains of our faction is inside that fence.
  17. linger
    remain present although waning or gradually dying
    Both of us watch the purification happen, and I wonder if he is thinking what I am: that it would be nice if life worked this way, stripping the dirt from our lives and sending us out into the world clean. But some dirt is destined to linger.
  18. distract
    draw someone's attention away from something
    I can’t be with him in that way if one of my reasons for wanting it is to distract myself from grief.
  19. indiscretion
    a petty misdeed
    “You think if you deliver it to the Erudite, they’ll forgive your indiscretion and let you back in their good graces.”
  20. violate
    act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises
    “You violated the terms of our peace agreement,” he says gently.
  21. protocol
    code of correct conduct
    “We have to follow protocol,” the younger man says. “Please sit, and we’ll discuss what happened, and then we’ll let you go.”
  22. obscure
    make unclear, indistinct, or blurred
    I feel a sharp pain in my neck. Dark spots cover the man in front of me, obscuring my view of his face.
  23. terse
    brief and to the point
    “What did you do to her?” Tobias says, terse. “What in God’s name did you do?”
  24. administer
    give or apply, as a medication
    “The peace serum,” Johanna says. “In small doses, it has a mild, calming effect and improves the mood. The only side effect is some slight dizziness. We administer it to members of our community who have trouble keeping the peace.”
  25. neutrality
    nonparticipation in a dispute or war
    “It explains,” he says, gritting his teeth, “why, under a pretense of neutrality—as if such a thing is possible!—you have left us to die at the hands of the Erudite.”
  26. resist
    withstand the force of something
    “Why couldn’t I fight the peace serum?” I say. “If my brain is weird enough to resist the simulation serum, why not this one?”
  27. conviction
    an unshakable belief in something without need for proof
    “Well, obviously I wanted to,” I say, frustrated, but without conviction. Did I want to? Or was it nice to forget about anger, forget about pain, forget about everything for a few hours?
  28. concede
    be willing to yield
    “Are you conceding?” he says, his mouth falling open with mock surprise.
  29. mimic
    imitate, especially for satirical effect
    “Those of us who aren’t dressed like the Amity should go to the dormitories, then,” Marcus says. “The rest of you, put your hair down; try to mimic their behavior.”
  30. disperse
    move away from each other
    We catch up to the Amity in front of us as we cross the courtyard to the dining hall and disperse among them.
  31. dissolve
    stop functioning or cohering as a unit
    The Amity don’t ask questions; they just let us dissolve into their faction.
  32. traitor
    someone who betrays his country by committing treason
    I feel a little relieved to know that half of the Dauntless, at least, are not traitors.
  33. isolated
    remote and separate physically or socially
    We are in a factionless storehouse, and the factionless, who are supposed to be scattered, isolated, and without community... are together inside it. Are together, like a faction.
  34. determine
    shape or influence; give direction to
    Its actions may determine the future of this city.
  35. deterioration
    a symptom of reduced quality or strength
    “Once the Dauntless reach a certain level of physical deterioration,” he says, “they are asked to leave.
  36. bereaved
    a person who has suffered the death of someone they loved
    Noise and activity are the refuges of the bereaved and the guilty.
  37. anomaly
    deviation from the normal or common order, form, or rule
    “Before the simulation attack, part of the Abnegation aid effort involved testing the factionless for a certain genetic anomaly,” she says.
  38. confine
    to close within bounds, limit or hold back from movement
    “Obviously those who can’t confine themselves to a particular way of thinking would be most likely to leave a faction or fail its initiation, right?”
  39. fathom
    come to understand
    No factions? A world in which no one knows who they are or where they fit? I can’t even fathom it. I imagine only chaos and isolation.
  40. demolish
    destroy completely
    I don’t want to admit that I was eavesdropping, but I want to tell him I don’t trust Evelyn, or the factionless, or anyone who speaks so casually about demolishing an entire faction.
Created on Mon Jan 11 10:46:01 EST 2016 (updated Wed Sep 05 15:20:25 EDT 2018)

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