Man Made Monsters: List 4

by Andrea L. Rogers
In eighteen stories spanning two centuries and territories throughout North America, members of a Cherokee family battle human and supernatural monsters.

This list covers "Manifesting Joy"–"Deer Women."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
40 words 11 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. hospice
    a program of medical care for the terminally ill
    Joy had been misplacing little things since her grandmother had gone into hospice three weeks ago. She had known something was wrong when her grandmother hadn’t texted to say, “Good morning.”
  2. cornea
    the transparent part of the eye covering the iris and pupil
    A year later they removed the damaged lens and a thin white halo formed around the torn cornea. My vision was flat; I had no depth perception.
  3. derisive
    expressing contempt or ridicule
    “Brains are kind of important.”
    Her laugh was derisive, “How the hell would your father know that?”
  4. pine
    have a desire for something or someone who is not present
    “Flying all the way to Seattle and we’ll only see the ocean and mountains from a plane,” she pined.
  5. enthralled
    filled with wonder and delight
    I had been enthralled with the view from the air and tried not to push her away as she leaned into me to see out my window.
  6. plait
    a hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair
    Her fingers tugged gently, spreading my hair apart and then weaving it into plaits. I drifted off as she worked on the second braid.
  7. engrossed
    giving or marked by complete attention to
    Books were her second addiction, the one that wouldn’t give me cancer. I watched her. She was totally engrossed—lost in an interior life I didn’t have a clue about.
  8. contusion
    an injury in which the skin is not broken
    He placed his hands on my head, feeling for odd bumps and contusions.
  9. demure
    suggestive of modesty or reserve
    I shuddered as I heard her demure “Ah, thank you, Doc.”
  10. subside
    wear off or die down
    “Who are you?” I asked quickly, feeling the warmth over my left eye subside.
  11. minutely
    in painstaking detail
    It was like the sound of someone methodically making tiny tears in the cardboard, patiently and minutely shredding it from the inside with an art knife.
  12. muse
    reflect deeply on a subject
    I mused that she was hanging out, when of course the dead have better things to do than visit their old tree swings.
  13. sidle
    move sideways
    When he got to the fence, the cat sidled between him and the fence and meowed insistently.
  14. snide
    expressive of contempt
    “What if my roommate is allergic?” As depressed as I was, I could still manage snide.
  15. amends
    something done or paid to make up for a wrong
    “That’s not how you build relationships. You better pick up some catnip or something to make amends.”
  16. tactile
    of or relating to or proceeding from the sense of touch
    “Not a tactile hallucination. She’s a cat. And a ghost.”
  17. waft
    be driven or carried along, as by the air
    As I kneeled down, I caught a whiff of sour tears and sweat wafting off my T-shirt.
  18. wispy
    thin and weak
    Then she laughed, and the gray, wispy cat climbed into her lap.
  19. moor
    secure in or as if in a berth or dock
    My maintenance had moored her life until I graduated from high school, but I had stopped being her best friend by third grade.
  20. untenable
    incapable of being defended or justified
    Moving into a future without my best friend felt untenable.
  21. cajole
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
    He begged and cajoled until I agreed to give him another chance.
  22. gravitate
    move toward
    We would end up in the same classes and we would gravitate toward each other because making friends is hard.
  23. vocation
    the particular occupation for which you are trained
    We were definitely not going to change into our pink-and-brown work uniforms until we had to. When I met up with Kitty after school, she was way too excited to be going to our minimum-wage vocation.
  24. compartmentalize
    keep separate; separate into isolated categories
    Part of selling ice cream is selling happy. For better or worse, I can be professional. I can compartmentalize. I was able to pretend nothing made me happier than marshmallow topping or sadder than running out of Rocky Road while I ignored the boy who gave me two black eyes.
  25. amiss
    in an improper or mistaken manner
    It bothered me that Kitty hadn’t noticed that anything was amiss. It’s not like I wore makeup very often and I hadn’t said a word to Jordan all afternoon.
  26. tenor
    of or close in range to the highest natural adult male voice
    When I clicked on the sound file, a tenor voice said, “Hello, Laura. I’m quite looking forward to meeting you.”
  27. apoplectic
    marked by extreme anger
    I stomped out of the office. I went back to my room. I ignored Riley’s text messages. Apoplectic.
  28. pique
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    Now my curiosity was piqued.
  29. aplomb
    great coolness and composure under strain
    Riley presented me with practiced aplomb.
  30. uncanny
    surpassing the ordinary or normal
    But something wasn’t quite right. At least not for me. Uncanny valley, I thought.
  31. quip
    make jokes or witty remarks
    “It was all right,” he said, “but you know,” he quipped, quoting Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, “I never drink...wine.”
  32. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    He was looking at me intently.
  33. liaison
    a means of communication between groups
    My mom, the school’s parent liaison, texted back it was only a drill this time.
  34. jargon
    a characteristic language of a particular group
    The conversation between two people was filled with jargon from A Clockwork Orange and tiny drawings of antlers covered in red ink.
  35. scrawl
    write carelessly
    “Who are you?” Lisa had scrawled back in reply.
  36. maw
    the mouth, jaws, or throat
    For the most part, the mouth of the drain was all in shadow, a dark maw that yawned.
  37. divot
    a small dent, hollow, or depression in a surface
    Large divots in the damp dirt bore evidence of one or several deer going into the drain.
  38. lull
    a pause during which things are calm
    People were driving home or rushing out to the lake for a few hours after work. When there was a brief lull, the car horn bleated.
  39. unwary
    not alert to danger or deception
    Then Lisa hired a car and went to the lake four hours before their midnight meeting, not a little unwary.
  40. ideal
    conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection
    Now that the adrenaline had worn off, I felt shaky. Quanah looked tired. It was not an ideal way to start the evening.
Created on Fri Jan 05 09:45:33 EST 2024 (updated Sat Jan 06 14:27:10 EST 2024)

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.