She Is A Haunting: List 2

by Trang Thanh Tran
Needing money for college tuition, seventeen-year-old Jade Nguyen agrees to spend the summer in Vietnam with her father, who is restoring a house that is still under the control of its former French owner.

This list covers "Appendix"–"Eye."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
40 words 13 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. pliable
    capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking
    It took years, but she finally brought ones who will stay. Pliable meat and soft minds, tucked safely in its hold.
  2. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    She is tedious work, but necessary.
  3. installment
    a payment of part of a debt
    Very few digits would remain in my savings, far less than what I need on August 5th to pay Mom back and the next tuition installment.
  4. cadence
    the rhythmic rise and fall of the voice
    Nothing is more real than the cadence of her laughter—not the creaking floorboards outside my bedroom, whoever or whatever I think is watching me, the bugs twitching on my sill.
  5. embellish
    make more attractive, as by adding ornament or color
    She wears glittery tees, embellished jeans, and a smile, for anyone.
  6. disgruntled
    in a state of sulky dissatisfaction
    “I don’t wanna get into it, but Dad’s being extra annoying.” Since that’s partly true, playing the role of disgruntled teen is easy.
  7. scrutinize
    look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail
    Mom scrutinizes my digital face.
  8. fortitude
    strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity
    My sister’s too excited by my lack of fortitude to question the retreat back into the house.
  9. trope
    a common or clichéd plot device, idea, or theme in a creative work
    I’m on schedule to finish the website, and he already thinks I’m a liar. There’s nothing wrong with playing into a trope.
  10. exorcism
    freeing from evil spirits
    Rather than an exorcism in this house, there will be a haunting.
  11. haphazardly
    without care; in a slapdash manner
    Florence is ten minutes late, so of course I’ve gone through three outfit changes. Shorts and tank tops lay haphazardly throughout the room.
  12. lithe
    moving and bending with ease
    You’re calling the shots, I remind myself, you’re in control. Still, whenever I feel Florence’s lithe body tilt, I close my eyes and follow.
  13. flair
    distinctive and stylish elegance
    “I want to do more research on the house for the historical flair, and I need help translating it, getting it from the library.”
  14. apparition
    a ghostly appearing figure
    The story unravels from my mouth at a steady pace, covering the apparition in the kitchen (redacted to be clothed), creaking noises, disrupted sleep, and the reflection of a grinning woman.
  15. wherewithal
    the necessary means (especially financial means)
    At least I’d possessed the wherewithal to shoot down Florence’s idea of smuggling a jar with a printout of someone’s head into the fridge, but was standing in front of the bathroom mirror at 4:00 a.m. with vinegar and Q-tips actually better?
  16. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    As I wrote, the usually ominous words GET OUT had seemed as childish as a kid’s crayon sign warning adults from their bedrooms.
  17. wrangle
    herd or round up
    “We’ll go more high tech. It’ll take another day to wrangle the parts.”
  18. saccharine
    overly sweet
    I smile, saccharine sweet.
  19. flourish
    a showy gesture
    With the flourish of a game show host, she unveils an assortment of rough-edged paper from the fishnet.
  20. deadpan
    speak in a deliberately impassive or serious manner
    “You said you had a library card,” I deadpan, standing now near the porch.
  21. desecrate
    remove the sacredness from a person or an object
    She didn’t mention anything about desecrating and committing grand theft of library books.
  22. per se
    with respect to its inherent nature
    I’m not hiding Florence per se, since her busted Converses are downstairs for all to see, but I’m not advertising the fact that we’re hanging out to Ba either.
  23. oblige
    provide a service or favor for someone
    “My dad said Nhà Hoa was one of the early villas. First hotel was in 1907 and the houses came later. Maybe 1920? 1921?”
    Florence obliges, adding a skull underneath those years, then the year for when the first cathedral was built.
  24. throes
    violent pangs of suffering
    The wasp is a perfect figure eight in ominous yellow-and-black stripes, and it drops to the sill where I normally find them lifeless and waiting to be brushed away. Its stained-glass wings twitch in the final throes of death.
  25. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    A selfie then fills the screen: Florence in harsh lightning, the night sky as her backdrop, and looking stoic as she grips a tall, scaly branch like a magical staff.
  26. trowel
    a small hand tool with a handle and metal blade
    Ba stoops low to the new concrete, using a trowel to smooth out its already perfect surface.
  27. indifference
    the trait of lacking enthusiasm for or interest in things
    Maybe, maybe, she finally understands my frustration over Ba and her indifference to what I’ve seen.
  28. earnestness
    the trait of being serious or sincere
    “Our family should be celebrated here.” His earnestness tugs at my chest until the camera’s red light flashes.
  29. mauve
    of a pale to moderate grayish violet color
    The woman flashes a knife-sharp smile; she is a nightmare wrapped in a long mauve dress.
  30. intonation
    rise and fall of the voice pitch
    Cam. It means orange, but she doesn’t pronounce it that way. She uses a harder intonation, distinguishing it from the Vietnamese version as something that cannot be peeled and torn apart.
  31. erratic
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
    Her movements are erratic and fast, too quick for me to run before fingers slide over my temples and hold me in place.
  32. stilted
    stiff and strained; lacking natural ease
    Strangled cries come from her stilted throat over several minutes.
  33. welt
    a raised mark on the skin
    Clumps of mosquitoes fall from her hands, but still he denies that it isn’t natural how his skin stays unblemished while welts grow all over hers.
  34. limbo
    an imaginary place for lost or neglected things
    The bath water is hot, scalding in the way I like, as last night’s dream or limbo or whatever replays in my mind.
  35. moniker
    a familiar name for a person
    “The refrigerator ghost,” I say after a minute, knowing it’s a ridiculous moniker for Cam, whose name I want as mine for a little longer.
  36. unfounded
    without a basis in reason or fact
    “No, they’re different,” I say with unfounded conviction.
  37. enigmatic
    not clear to the understanding
    Carefully, I tell Florence about the vision and “them,” the enigmatic entity that Cam feared.
  38. mortar
    a substance used as a bond in masonry or for covering a wall
    Mortar has been chiseled and hammered away on Nhà Hoa’s face, its cavities filled with new brick to look pristine.
  39. sentient
    endowed with feeling and unstructured consciousness
    There’d be no option other than to get out, which is impossible with all the upcoming bills, Lily, Mom, the fact that houses are not sentient, and ghosts can’t actually hurt you.
  40. residual
    relating to or indicating a remainder
    “I didn’t say houses do anything. I’m saying, maybe that residual energy’s giving you bad dreams.”
Created on Thu Mar 28 15:01:51 EDT 2024 (updated Fri Mar 29 15:25:45 EDT 2024)

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