We Are the Ants: List 1

by Shaun David Hutchinson
Is the world worth saving? That's the question Henry Denton must answer when aliens give him the power to save—or destroy—the planet.

This list covers Chemistry: Extra Credit Project – 14 Sept 2015.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, LIst 3, List 4, List 5
35 words 383 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    If I hadn’t mentioned it, you would have continued on with your life, pin-balling from one tedious task to the next...
  2. sadistic
    deriving pleasure from inflicting pain on another
    We spend our first nine months of life floating, weightless and blind ... and the seductive lure of space travel is the promise of returning to that perfect state of grace. But it’s a sham. Gravity is jealous, sadistic, and infinite.
  3. secrete
    generate and separate from cells or bodily fluids
    Sluggers don’t speak. During those long stretches where my body is beyond my control, I often wonder how they communicate with one another. Maybe they secrete chemicals the way insects do, or perhaps the movements of their eye stalks is a form of language similar to the dance of a bee.
  4. abduct
    take away to an undisclosed location against their will
    The sluggers abducted me before I learned what my parents were arguing about.
  5. obsidian
    glass formed by the cooling of lava without crystallization
    The slab, which had become a chair, was obsidian black.
  6. appendage
    an external body part that projects from the body
    I turned to find the source, but the slugger sprouted an appendage and slapped me in the neck.
  7. welt
    a raised mark on the skin
    “I really hope that was an arm,” I said, rubbing the fresh welt.
  8. euphoria
    a feeling of great elation
    The next time the image was whole, I scrambled to the button and slammed it with my hand. I was rewarded with an intense burst of euphoria that began in my feet and surged up my legs, spreading to my fingers and the tips of my ears.
  9. causal
    involving an entity that produces an effect
    They were simply meant to force me to see that there was a causal relationship between whether I pressed the button and whether the planet exploded.
  10. apocalypse
    a cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the powers of evil
    “Great. So, when is this apocalypse set to occur?”
  11. smug
    marked by excessive complacency or self-satisfaction
    Charlie jeered at me behind Mom’s back, and I wanted to punch that smug look off his face.
  12. desiccated
    thoroughly dried out
    I loved how the sun and salt spray perfused my skin, filling me with the memory of light. God surely meant for humans to live like that. He hadn’t intended for us to wither into desiccated husks in front of brightly lit screens that leeched away our summer days one meme at a time.
  13. meme
    an amusing image that spreads rapidly through social media
    He hadn’t intended for us to wither into desiccated husks in front of brightly lit screens that leeched away our summer days one meme at a time.
  14. dubious
    fraught with uncertainty or doubt
    Jesse once told me that if I focused on a fixed point on the horizon, I would be okay, but Jesse hanged himself in his bedroom last year, so the value of his advice is dubious at best.
  15. apathy
    an absence of emotion or enthusiasm
    And she never lets our apathy discourage her.
  16. pariah
    a person who is rejected from society or home
    He was a senior when I was a freshman, and he considered telling everyone I’d been abducted by aliens and turning me into a social pariah his greatest achievement.
  17. platitude
    a trite or obvious remark
    “You’re a smart kid, Henry, with a real knack for science. You’re going to show those boys one day.”
    Maybe that’s true, but cliche platitudes rarely help.
  18. supernova
    a star that explodes and becomes luminous in the process
    “Asteroid impact, gamma radiation from a nearby supernova, nuclear holocaust.” She ticked the list off on her fingers before she stopped and narrowed her eyes. “I know high school is rough, Henry, but blowing up the planet is never the answer.”
  19. aquiline
    curved down like an eagle's beak
    We stood at the sinks and both admired Marcus’s reflection in the mirror—his smooth olive skin and aquiline nose combine with his dimples and muscles to make him unbearably handsome.
  20. asteroid
    a small celestial body composed of rock and metal
    Frieda Eichman of Grünstadt is the first to identify the asteroid, using the telescope her father gave her for her thirteenth birthday.
  21. revered
    profoundly honored
    Popularity is teenage heroin. Kids who have tasted it crave more; those who have it in abundance are revered as gods; and even those who have never basked in the light of its glory secretly desire it, regardless of what they may say to the contrary.
  22. din
    a loud, harsh, or strident noise
    I strained to listen but couldn’t hear anything over the din of excited conversations.
  23. volatile
    evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures
    Ms. Faraci mouthed thank you and rushed inside as Dustin Collier fell out of his desk and crashed into the supply locker where Ms. Faraci stored the volatile chemicals.
  24. wane
    grow smaller
    The confidence Diego exuded when he’d burst into my class appeared to be waning, and he fidgeted, shoving his hands into his pockets, then crossing his arms, then putting his hands back into his pockets.
  25. abyss
    a bottomless gulf or pit
    Sometimes she looks at me, and I see nothing but a deepening abyss where my grandmother used to be.
  26. anachronistic
    chronologically misplaced
    Charlie and Zooey latched on to Nana's anachronistic racism and wrung out a chuckle that turned into a torrent of laughter.
  27. vigil
    a purposeful surveillance to guard or observe
    Sloppy rows of expensive cars sparkled under the decorative lights strung from the palm trees that kept vigil over the yard.
  28. manic
    affected with or marked by frenzy uncontrolled by reason
    Marcus watched me with a manic, sweaty grin.
  29. vertigo
    a reeling sensation; a feeling that you are about to fall
    I shook my head to clear the vertigo.
  30. capitulate
    surrender under agreed conditions
    China and Russia deploy their military forces to strategic positions throughout the world while suggesting that the US capitulate to North Korea’s demands.
  31. disorienting
    causing loss of physical or intellectual bearings
    For a few disorienting seconds, I thought I was still on the spaceship.
  32. skew
    turn or place at an angle
    It was late, but I didn’t know how late. It had been eleven or twelve when I was sitting by the pool—those shots had skewed my perception of the passage of time—but the sluggers could have kept me for an hour or five.
  33. indignity
    an affront to one's self-esteem
    The first indignity was having to call collect. Pay phones should be free. If you’re desperate enough to need one, it’s probably an emergency and you don’t have change.
  34. ampersand
    a punctuation mark (&) that represents the conjunction "and"
    Jesse was my parallel subject—I always knew he was on the other side of the ampersand—but I didn’t know where I stood with Marcus.
  35. condescension
    showing arrogance by patronizing those considered inferior
    “Come on, Henry. I got up in the middle of the night for you. Doesn’t that prove something?” His voice betrayed no sarcasm, no condescension. It was almost enough to make me believe he cared.
Created on Thu Jul 27 19:02:35 EDT 2017 (updated Fri Sep 13 13:57:27 EDT 2019)

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