The Great Gilly Hopkins: List 1

by Katherine Paterson
When eleven-year-old Galadriel Hopkins is sent to live with Maime Trotter in Maryland, the latest in a series of foster parents, she hatches a plan to run away to her biological mother in California.

This list covers "Welcome to Thompson Park"–"More Unpleasant Surprises."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
40 words 1156 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. maneuver
    a deliberate coordinated movement requiring dexterity
    Miss Ellis swept her golden head left to right and then began to turn the wheel in a cautious maneuver to the left.
  2. straggle
    go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way
    Miss Ellis flinched and glanced in the rear-view mirror but continued to talk in her calm, professional voice while Gilly picked at the bits of gum stuck in her straggly bangs and on her cheeks and chin.
  3. salvage
    save from ruin, destruction, or harm
    Gilly calmly pinched a blob of gum off the end of her nose. There was no use trying to get the gum out of her hair. She sat back and tried to chew the bit she had managed to salvage.
  4. elaborate
    developed or executed with care and in minute detail
    She fished another ball of gum from her jeans pocket and scraped the lint off with her thumbnail before elaborately popping it into her mouth.
  5. obliging
    showing a cheerful willingness to do favors for others
    “Do me another favor, will you? Get rid of that bubble gum before we get there?”
    Gilly obligingly took the gum out of her mouth while Miss Ellis’s eyes were still in the mirror.
  6. gruesome
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    Nobody wants to tangle with the great Galadriel Hopkins. I am too clever and too hard to manage. Gruesome Gilly they call me.
  7. bale
    a large bundle bound for storage or transport
    “Galadriel,” muttered Gilly, not that she expected this bale of blubber to manage her real name.
  8. prod
    push against gently
    Gilly could feel Miss Ellis’s fingers on her backbone gently prodding her through the doorway and into the house.
  9. squat
    having a low center of gravity; built low to the ground
    The couch was brown and squat with a pile of cushions covered in graying lace at the far end.
  10. glare
    an angry stare
    From the brown chair Miss Ellis was staring at her with a very nonprofessional glare.
  11. bolster
    a pillow put across a bed underneath the regular pillows
    William Ernest climbed up behind the huge woman and lay behind her back like a bolster pillow, poking his head around from time to time to sneak another look at Gilly.
  12. repertory
    a collection of works that an artist or company can perform
    She waited until Mrs. Trotter and Miss Ellis were talking, then gave little W.E. the most fearful face in all her repertory of scary looks, sort of a cross between Count Dracula and Godzilla.
  13. laborious
    characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion
    Meantime Mrs. Trotter was laboriously hefting herself to her feet.
  14. bureau
    furniture with drawers for keeping clothes
    The narrow bed filled up most of the space, and even someone as skinny as Gilly had to kneel on the bed in order to pull out the drawers of the bureau opposite it.
  15. curlicue
    a short twisting line or flourish
    She tested the dust on the top of the bureau, and then, standing on the bed, wrote in huge cursive curlicues, “Ms. Galadriel Hopkins.”
  16. astray
    away from the right path or direction
    The glossy black hair hung in gentle waves without a hair astray.
  17. mock
    imitating something; not genuine
    Gilly threw both her hands up in mock surrender. “All right, all right. Forget it.”
  18. grubby
    thickly covered with ingrained dirt
    Mr. Randolph's house was smaller and more grubby-looking even than Trotter’s.
  19. lurch
    move suddenly or as if unable to control one's movements
    The sidewalk was uneven. Mr. Randolph’s toe hit a high corner, and he lurched forward.
  20. shuffle
    walk by dragging one's feet
    He was shuffling painfully up Trotter’s front steps.
  21. incident
    a public disturbance
    The meal proceeded without incident.
  22. privilege
    a special advantage or benefit not enjoyed by all
    But I tell you, this is the most delicious meal I have ever had the privilege of eating.
  23. maintain
    state or assert
    I may be old, but I haven’t lost my sense of taste, even if some folks maintain I’ve lost the other four.
  24. self-righteous
    excessively or hypocritically pious
    Perhaps the self-righteous Trotter would be put into jail for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
  25. vigorously
    in an energetic manner
    Gilly nodded her head vigorously Yes.
  26. emphatically
    in a forceful manner; with emphasis
    Trotter missed the look, but not Gilly, who smiled widely and shook her half-bulldozed head emphatically.
  27. palsy
    a medical condition marked by uncontrollable tremor
    “I would’ve thought you was too young for the palsy,” the huge woman murmured, sliding into her seat with the cup of coffee she’d promised herself earlier.
  28. obscenity
    an offensive or indecent word or phrase
    She spit every obscenity she’d ever heard through her teeth, but it wasn’t enough.
  29. ignorant
    uneducated in general; lacking knowledge or sophistication
    That ignorant hippopotamus!
  30. imbecile
    a person of subnormal intelligence
    That walrus-faced imbecile!
  31. rummage
    search haphazardly
    She ran into the bathroom and rummaged through the medicine chest until she found a pair of nail scissors with which to chop out the offending hair.
  32. submission
    the act of surrendering power to another
    When despite her assault by comb and scissors a few strands refused to lie down meekly, she soaked them mercilessly into submission.
  33. trifle
    act frivolously
    She’d show them who Galadriel Hopkins was—she was not to be trifled with.
  34. seethe
    be in an agitated emotional state
    She was still seething over the hair combing.
  35. clamor
    a loud, harsh, or strident noise
    The clamor of their answers clashed in Gilly’s brain.
  36. fracas
    a noisy, angry argument or fight between people
    She’d actually drawn blood in the fracas.
  37. smirk
    smile in a mocking or condescending way
    “I would rather for us to be friends.”
    Gilly smirked.
  38. sassy
    improperly forward or bold
    She tilted her head sassily and kept her eyes right on his.
  39. menacing
    threatening evil or danger
    She smiled what she knew to be her most menacing smile.
  40. uproar
    a state of commotion and noise and confusion
    Give her a week, boy. A week and she’d have the whole cussed place in an uproar.
Created on Fri Sep 23 20:15:29 EDT 2016 (updated Tue Aug 01 10:24:40 EDT 2023)

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