Charming as Verb: Chapters 1–4

by Ben Philippe
In this romantic comedy, Henri, a Haitian-American teenager who dreams of attending Columbia University, is coerced into helping one of his classmates change her image.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–10, Chapters 11–17, Chapters 18–26, Chapter 27–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. earnest
    devout or heartfelt
    I learned a long time ago that 
smiling goes a very long way.
    Not smirking, not grinning. An earnest Smile.
  2. rampant
    occurring or increasing in an unrestrained way
    She smirks conspiratorially, nodding to my Uptown
 Updogs T-shirt as if this transaction places us both firmly on 
the outside of rampant capitalism. Tip your dog walker: stick it
 to corporate America.
  3. delineate
    show the form or outline of
    That 
rectangle delineates the Uptown Updogs official zone of ser
vice.
  4. dystopian
    characterized by human misery
    “Class doesn’t actually end when the four p.m. bell rings. The 
computer labs and art facilities are open until, like, eleven. It’s
 dystopian.”
  5. circumvent
    avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing
    So, yeah, there’s no circumventing that this is a bit of a
 scam.
  6. gusto
    vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment
    How much
 gusto and hustle you can muster in pursuit of your goals and for
 that better life for your children.
  7. tenure
    the term during which some position is held
    We placed 
third in the state last year, behind The Chapin School, and Greg 
sees it as his mission to get us the gold trophy before the end of 
his tenure in another year and a half.
  8. stilted
    artificially formal or stiff
    I stand in the back of the mostly empty classroom, hearing 
a snatch of Greg’s monotonous and stilted rebuttal to today’s
 topic.
  9. chimera
    a grotesque product of the imagination
    On the stage, Yadira is a debate chimera of perfect posture, piercing eyes, and retort that always skirts the line 
between well read and downright condescending.
  10. condescending
    characteristic of those who treat others with arrogance
    On the stage, Yadira is a debate chimera of perfect posture, piercing eyes, and retort that always skirts the line 
between well read and downright condescending.
  11. premise
    a statement that is held to be true
    I swear, they just go by TV sitcom premises. Where
 the rhetorical academic rigor comes in is in the soundness of the
 arguments, thoroughness of counterarguments, and creativity
 of delivery of the three-person teams.
  12. rhetorical
    relating to using language effectively
    I swear, they just go by TV sitcom premises. Where
 the rhetorical academic rigor comes in is in the soundness of the
 arguments, thoroughness of counterarguments, and creativity
 of delivery of the three-person teams.
  13. aggregate
    formed of separate units gathered into a mass or whole
    And the strongest
 argument against this premise is obviously the disturbance of 
aggregate luminosity.
  14. render
    cause to become
    Greg has been rendered silent by Evie’s appearance.
  15. pathological
    caused by or evidencing a mentally disturbed condition
    I swear I don’t pathologically enjoy riling people up—Greg
 and Yadira will get an apologetic text from me, and I will make 
it on time next week, come hell or high water.
  16. cursory
    hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough
    For a while, I settled for being a mediocre dog walker. Paws
 were left cursorily wiped.
  17. remunerate
    make payment to; compensate
    I was a ninja: in and out. A ninja that
 could fit in more walks that way. A relatively well-remunerated 
ninja.
  18. staunch
    firm and dependable especially in loyalty
    Something about the space feels both homey and
 staunchly academic.
  19. undaunted
    unshaken in purpose
    “He’s a high schooler,” Corinne continues, undaunted. “Palm Tree deserves better than a wildly immature seventeen-
year-old.”
  20. heyday
    the period of greatest prosperity or productivity
    I wonder if she was on a debate
 team during her high school heyday.
  21. cohort
    a group of people having approximately the same age
    We don’t have any classes together this semester and are 
on wildly different schedules, but of all the FATE students,
 Ming Denison-Eilfing might be the only one I consider a bona 
fide bro, as opposed to simply a cohort.
  22. listless
    lacking zest or vivacity
    We listlessly walk through the shop, taking in the new
 designs and colors of the season.
  23. affront
    a deliberately offensive act
    I get a six-pack of athletic socks upside the head for the
 affront and can’t help but laugh.
  24. nominal
    relating to or constituting or bearing or giving a name
    Halkias, Haltiwanger: that nominal connection found us standing in line with each other at almost every gathering in which 
students were alphabetized by last names.
  25. chastise
    scold or criticize severely
    “Corinne,” Ma chastises.
  26. diaspora
    the dispersion of something that was originally localized
    “Diaspora” was the first SAT word I remember learning 
last year. "A scattered population whose origin lies in a
 different geographic locale.” For Haitians—the Haltiwanger clan, specifically—it means to split apart and put yourself together someplace else.
  27. disingenuous
    not straightforward or candid
    Nothing about my Smile is disingenuous 
today.
  28. profusely
    in very large amounts or quantities; extremely
    A freckled, light-skinned Black woman with a streak of
 white hair tumbles into the coffee shop, bumping into the back
 of someone’s chair on her way in and sending packs of artificial
 sweetener flying off the table before she apologizes profusely.
  29. conspiratorial
    relating to or characteristic of a secret plot or agreement
    Her voice turns into a conspiratorial whisper on that last
 statement, and she mimics zipping her lips shut.
  30. segue
    changing smoothly from one state or situation to another
    I didn’t have a prepared segue for that vaguely
 inappropriate soliloquy.
  31. soliloquy
    speech you make to yourself
    I didn’t have a prepared segue for that vaguely
 inappropriate soliloquy.
  32. fawn
    try to gain favor through flattery or deferential behavior
    If nobody likes to be fawned over, a 
lot of people respond positively to having created butterflies in
 someone else’s stomach.
  33. wistful
    showing pensive sadness
    She gives a wistful sigh. “Then it turned out that was only 
thing number five of a million more things I would go on to also 
really, really want with every fiber of my body. You never stop
 wanting, y’know? That’s the human condition.”
  34. unprecedented
    novel; having no earlier occurrence
    Her eyes are on me with unprecedented intensity, as if 
the loud hurricane playwright of the past twenty minutes had 
merely been a role and now we’re on to the real thing.
  35. lilt
    articulate in a very careful and rhythmic way
    Because my dad wants it more than anything? 
Because I hear his voice lilt when he says Columbia?
  36. loiter
    linger, remain, or wait around for no apparent reason
    There’s another SAT word: loiter. To stand or wait around idly without apparent purpose.
  37. idly
    in a lazy, casual, or aimless way
    There’s another SAT word: loiter. To stand or wait around idly without apparent purpose.
  38. parse
    analyze the sentence structure of
    “I’m just noting your phrase, Henri.” Donielle readjusts one 
of her bright scarves.
    “Okay.” What is happening here? I just poured my soul out
 on the Hungarian Pastry Shop’s sticky floor, and she’s parsing words?
  39. oratory
    the act of addressing an audience formally
    An upside of being on the debate 
team is that you develop self-awareness of your oratory performance.
  40. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    The judges’ faces might remain stoic, but you can
 generally tell when a point lands or when the audience is col
lectively shaking its head in disagreement.
Created on Tue Feb 09 12:13:26 EST 2021 (updated Tue Feb 16 16:42:24 EST 2021)

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