Feed: Part 3

by M.T. Anderson
This satirical novel imagines a dystopian future in which people have computers implanted in their heads to control their perceptions of reality.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Here are links to our lists for The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (Volume 1), The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (Volume 2) by M.T. Anderson.
15 words 872 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. picayune
    small and of little importance
    I made the mistake of saying we were back to the picayune grind.
  2. allegation
    a formal accusation against somebody
    It is not the will of the American people, the people of this great nation, to believe the allegations that were made by these corporate ‘watch’ organizations, which are not the majority of the American people, I repeat not, and aren’t its will.
  3. nestle
    move or arrange oneself in a comfortable and cozy position
    The cities back then, just after the forests died, were full of wonders, and you’d stumble on them—these princes of the air on common rooftops—the rivers that burst through city streets so they ran like canals—the rabbits in parking garages—the deer foaling, nestled in Dumpsters like a Nativity.
  4. demographic
    of or relating to the characteristics of human populations
    I mean, they do these demographic studies that divide everyone up into a few personality types, and then you get ads based on what you’re supposedly like.
  5. genealogy
    the study or investigation of ancestry and family history
    ...And I’ve been looking up house painting for the Antarctic homeowner, and the way people get married in Tonga, and genealogy home pages in the Czech Republic...
  6. fascist
    an adherent of right-wing authoritarian views
    No, it’s not a democracy, and I was like, Yes it is, and she was like, No it isn’t, and I got sarcastic, so I was like, No, sure, it’s all fascist, isn’t it? We’re all fascists?
  7. flux
    a state of uncertainty about what should be done
    “We’re having serious decision flux here.”
  8. contusion
    an injury in which the skin is not broken
    “He died a day after we went into the hospital. Contusions. Broken skull.”
  9. levitate
    be suspended in the air, as if in defiance of gravity
    I parked next to the house with the upcar still levitated, and I climbed down and went to the door.
  10. irony
    incongruity between what is expected and what occurs
    “He says the language is dying. He thinks words are being debased. So he tries to speak entirely in weird words and irony, so no one can simplify anything he says.”
  11. discrete
    constituting a separate entity or part
    He leaned toward them and said, “In object-oriented programming, discrete software objects interfaced more freely, in a system of corporate service provision that mirrored the emergent structures of late capitalism.”
  12. epoch
    a period marked by distinctive character
    These—oral culture, written culture, the culture of print—these have always been considered the great epochs of man.
  13. oneiric
    of or relating to or suggestive of dreams
    It is the age of oneiric culture. And we, America, we are the nation of dreams.
  14. susceptible
    yielding readily to or capable of undergoing a process
    “But the problem is, if you get the feed after you’re fully formed, it doesn’t fit as snugly. I mean, the feedware. It’s more susceptible to malfunction.”
  15. vertigo
    a reeling sensation; a feeling that you are about to fall
    She said, “I want to feel something. Let’s feel vertigo together.”
Created on Wed Apr 30 19:57:22 EDT 2014 (updated Wed Jul 30 09:42:32 EDT 2025)

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