Hearts Unbroken: List 4

by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Louise Wolfe, a Native American teen, gets caught up in controversy (and an unexpected romance) when she and other school newspaper reporters pursue a big story.

This list covers "Under the Weather" to "Giving Thanks."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
35 words 8 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. synergy
    the working together of two or more things to produce an effect
    According to Hughie, it had long been the girls’ dream to share a stage, and their synergy was electric.
  2. fleeting
    lasting for a markedly brief time
    Students miss school; teachers miss school. It happens. For a fleeting moment, I hoped that Ms. Wilson hadn’t caught the nasty bug that was going around.
  3. pious
    having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity
    She kept her hands folded, almost pious, on the top of the desk.
  4. painstaking
    characterized by extreme care and great effort
    Mrs. Powell forced everyone through the painstaking ritual of introducing ourselves as she checked off attendance.
  5. intonation
    rise and fall of the voice pitch
    “She’s on leave.” The same words, the same intonation. “That’s all I know.”
  6. paisley
    a fabric with a colorful swirled pattern of curved shapes
    A button-up paisley tunic over black leggings and her hot-pink cat’s-eye glasses resting like a headband over her spiral curls.
  7. scathing
    marked by harshly abusive criticism
    I ached to write a scathing editorial about the unfairness of it all.
  8. backfire
    return with an undesired effect
    But any mention of Ms. Wilson in the school newspaper might backfire and be used against her.
  9. cavort
    play boisterously
    I laughed, still spinning, while the dachshund puppies cavorted in the piles, digging, forever digging, gleefully foiling our efforts.
  10. meticulous
    marked by extreme care in treatment of details
    I’d meticulously cleared each leaf and twig from the Shire when Joey asked, “You do realize it will snow eventually?”
  11. clinical
    detached or unemotional
    Then again, the word sex was almost clinical, deficient in romance, passion.
  12. miffed
    aroused to impatience or anger
    “And I wasn’t pissed at you. I was just miffed.”
  13. scintillate
    be lively or brilliant or exhibit virtuosity
    I dipped my fork into the melty vanilla goo, closed my eyes as hot-cold-fruity sugar scintillated my taste buds.
  14. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    "Meanwhile, you’re too busy with your tedious boy dramas and your perfect studenting and your postcard-perfect family and your self-righteous Indian princessing to notice.”
  15. fawn
    try to gain favor through flattery or deferential behavior
    ...so the hot new guy has stopped fawning all over everything I say.
  16. flourish
    a showy gesture
    “By all means, go ahead and pat yourself on the back while this lowly peasant bows in gratitude.” Her bow was more of a flourished curtsy, but she’d made her point.
  17. unrelenting
    never-ceasing
    The house alarm wailed—loud, urgent, unrelenting.
  18. stifle
    smother or suppress
    “No permanent harm done,” my father said, stifling a cough.
  19. skulk
    lie in wait or behave in a sneaky and secretive manner
    The security camera had captured our skulking enemy in a ski mask and gloves, carrying the paint can in one hand and something thicker, bigger, and bulkier, in the other.
  20. incensed
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    Daniel lunged at the chain-link fence, gripped and shook it, shook it, irate, incensed, like he’d been caged far too long.
  21. amends
    something done or paid to make up for a wrong
    For all I knew, he had saved my family, and I believed him when he swore to try to make amends.
  22. backlash
    an adverse reaction to some political or social occurrence
    But we weren’t sure how to address his participating in the musical itself. Or if we should address it, especially once the backlash hit.
  23. unabashed
    not embarrassed
    The sets, the lighting—the musical had been an unabashed success. When Hughie sprang to his feet for the ovation, I stood to applaud his friends, too.
  24. self-righteous
    excessively or hypocritically pious
    The way I saw it, Joey was being unreasonable. Self-righteous. Holier than thou.
  25. forgo
    do without or cease to hold or adhere to
    She’d forgone her usual long dresses to wear pants for the occasion.
  26. understatement
    something said in a restrained way for ironic contrast
    “I said something horrible that I didn’t mean.” (I know, understatement.)
  27. bode
    indicate by signs
    “Well, that sucks,” I replied. It didn’t bode well for my relationship with Joey, either.
  28. swath
    a path or strip (also figurative)
    More like a swirling storm of debris. Swaths that blindside, bruise, divide.
  29. blatant
    without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious
    But behavior like that doesn't come out of nowhere. It's fueled every time we ignore or excuse or explain away bigoted words and actions. Those that are obvious and blatant, those that are small and subtle, yet evermore destructive in their cumulative effect.
  30. condemnation
    an expression of strong disapproval
    First, I want to personally express my solidarity with the Theater students and their families and my condemnation of the attacks on their peace of mind and the Wolfes' property.
  31. bale
    a large bundle bound for storage or transport
    To either side of the road, cornfields and hay bales peeked between autumn trees.
  32. per se
    with respect to its inherent nature
    We hadn’t parked in a space per se—they’d all been full. Instead, he’d taken the opening in front of an exit door, leading to the stairs.
  33. capricious
    determined by chance or impulse rather than by necessity
    But twisters are capricious. They’ll level a home and spare the one next door.
  34. careen
    move sideways or in an unsteady way
    Beyond the Emerald Hills entrance, the sugar maples along the avenue had taken a beating. A play structure had careened to one side.
  35. brunt
    the main part, especially of a force or shock
    Everyone with their own story to share, I was sure, though power had been restored and old town had been spared the brunt of the storm.
Created on Mon Jul 06 09:34:55 EDT 2020 (updated Thu Jul 09 11:42:58 EDT 2020)

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