"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 13

Philip Geer's "Simon's Saga" includes 820 SAT-level words and gives students an entertaining glimpse into college life.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12, Episode 13, Episode 14, Episode 15, Episode 16, Episode 17, Episode 18, Episode 19, Episode 20, Episode 21, Episode 22, Episode 23, Episode 24, Episode 25, Episode 26, Episode 27, Episode 28, Episode 29, Episode 30, Episode 31, Episode 32, Episode 33, Episode 34, Episode 35, Episode 36, Episode 37
20 words 673 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. reminisce
    recall the past
    “Anyway,” Simon said to Jaz, “let’s reminisce a little more. I remember the first time we lured a girl over."
  2. facetious
    cleverly amusing in tone
    Simon didn’t know if you could describe a smile as “facetious,” but if you could this would be it.
  3. saccharine
    overly sweet
    Another word that came into his mind was “saccharine.”
  4. ineptitude
    unskillfulness resulting from a lack of training
    Talk about social ineptitude.
  5. lineage
    inherited properties shared with others of your bloodline
    Her family’s long lineage of matchmakers would not end with her.
  6. unmitigated
    not diminished or moderated in intensity or severity
    The unmitigated horror of it, she thought.
  7. fiasco
    a complete failure or collapse
    What a fiasco.
  8. humane
    marked by concern with the alleviation of suffering
    “That was very humane.”
  9. impeccable
    without error or flaw
    “Yes, our preparation was impeccable,” Jaz said.
  10. stringent
    demanding strict attention to rules and procedures
    Your assignment was to find a girl who met a very stringent set of criteria so that Axel would be enticed but not scared off by her feminine charms
  11. aloof
    distant, cold, or detached in manner
    highly intelligent, graduate student in astrophysics, superb chess player, amiable but just a little aloof, vivacious but not a total bundle of energy
  12. susceptible
    easily influenced mentally or emotionally
    and, of course, she had to be susceptible to your powers of persuasion—but not too susceptible.
  13. vaunt
    show off
    “Yeah, you were sure the vaunted computer in your psych lab would find this unique person, weren’t you?” he asked.
  14. cacophony
    loud confusing disagreeable sounds
    Yeah, that music is pretty bizarre. It sounds like a cacophony to me.
  15. syncopation
    a musical rhythm accenting a normally weak beat
    “It has the weirdest syncopation,” Simon said.
  16. nirvana
    any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
    He was in nirvana. There was this look of absolute bliss on his face.
  17. intrepid
    invulnerable to fear or intimidation
    That guy threw everything he had at Axel, but old Ax was intrepid. He just calmly absorbed it and then launched a really vicious counterattack.
  18. perpetual
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    “He certainly looked pretty happy after he squeezed out that perpetual check of Axel’s Queen,” Jaz said.
  19. saturated
    unable to dissolve still more of a substance
    “I’ve never seen a person sweat so much. I mean he was saturated.”
  20. machination
    a crafty and involved plot to achieve your ends
    “Well, there were some machinations involved. You see, I persuaded a visiting mathematics professor I know who also happens to be the reigning Russian national female chess champion ...”
Created on Mon Aug 18 20:45:34 EDT 2014 (updated Tue Aug 19 14:34:19 EDT 2014)

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