Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody: Chapters 26–33

by Patrick Ness
Three middle school monitor lizard hall monitors — with the help of a blind hawk — are all that stand in the way of the pelican supervillain school bully from taking over the school. Amidst much humor, heroes emerge, and good has the final victory.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–15, Chapters 16–25, Chapters 26–33
15 words 12 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. audible
    heard or perceptible by the ear
    “No,” said Pelicarnassus. “You’ll never go. You’re too poor.”
    There was an actual audible gasp in the classroom at this, even from Mr. MacPherson, who seemed too shocked to speak.
  2. sentiment
    a personal belief or judgment
    “Yeah, and where does a pelican get off being so horrible about someone’s looks?” said a lion, which was probably the wrong sentiment, but Zeke could still feel a little grateful.
  3. mercenary
    a person hired to fight for another country than their own
    “Oh,” said the pelican, “did I not mention that the first invasion in your room was only cover so I could secretly plant spies who would form their own air force from mercenaries and unfriendly foreign governments?”
  4. veer
    turn sharply; change direction abruptly
    The other planes in the formation veered sharply away from him to avoid another chomping.
  5. preoccupied
    having excessive or compulsive concern with something
    “Is he really afraid that I’ll become stronger than him?” Zeke asked...
    “IT IS MY THEORY!” Miel yelled. “THOUGH I AM CURRENTLY MORE PREOCCUPIED WITH WHY THIS SCHOOL HAS SO MANY HALLWAYS!”
  6. simultaneously
    at the same instant
    The giant robot pelican suit rocked backward, both Normans squawking simultaneously and having to take off in order not to fall.
  7. vanquish
    defeat in a competition, race, or conflict
    “Oh, please,” Zeke said. “Is this where you tell me I’m special anyway and my superpower is just being Zeke and that’ll be enough to vanquish the villain?”
  8. cackle
    emit a loud, unpleasant kind of laughing
    “Shall we see how well lizards can fly?” Pelicarnassus cackled.
  9. plummet
    drop sharply
    The power went right out of the giant robot pelican suit and it turned from a giant robot pelican suit into just a huge, heavy hunk of metal.
    It plummeted.
  10. vulnerable
    capable of being wounded or hurt
    ...the swoop of one wing brushed the teetering wreckage of the giant robot pelican suit in a particularly vulnerable spot. The teetering turned to rocking.
    The rocking turned to falling.
  11. obligation
    the social force that binds you to a course of action
    He was bigger than the pelican. It was the obligation of the stronger to help the smaller and that’s all there was to it.
  12. barbed
    having or covered with protective points, spines, or thorns
    The suit would flatten them both, but in that instant, that was what Zeke chose. He folded himself over Pelicarnassus and waited to be crushed—
    But they weren’t crushed. In fact, what Zeke felt fold over him was not the barbed cage of a giant robot pelican suit, but the tough muscles of a wombat. Everything went dark, and Zeke heard a HUGE crash above him somewhere.
  13. archenemy
    a major foe
    “I’m still not your friend,” Pelicarnassus said. “We’re still archenemies.”
  14. stricken
    affected by something overwhelming
    Now Pelicarnassus looked stricken. “Oh, no. She’s going to take away my computers!”
  15. optimistic
    hopeful that the best will happen in the future
    ...even though Zeke was optimistic and even though it had been a good week, he was still a little worried.
Created on Wed Jul 16 21:37:39 EDT 2025 (updated Tue Aug 12 17:15:23 EDT 2025)

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.