The School for Good and Evil: Chapters 11–16

by Soman Chainani
Sweet, angelic Sophie and moody Agatha are shocked when Agatha is sent to the School for Good and Sophie is sent to the School for Evil. Did the School Master make a mistake or does he know the two girls better than they know themselves?

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–10, Chapters 11–16, Chapters 17–22, Chapters 23–30
40 words 27 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    As Agatha inched towards the nest, she caught a closer look at the sleeping stymphs’ jagged teeth, gnarled talons, and spiked tails that shred flesh from bone.
  2. sashay
    walk with a lofty proud gait, often to impress others
    “Oh, please, if they like you, they’ll try to mate with me. Animals worship princesses,” said Sophie, sashaying towards the birds—
  3. doddering
    mentally or physically infirm with age
    The School Master paced like a doddering duck.
  4. debacle
    a sound defeat
    And if all this wasn’t bad enough, their Hobgoblin Debacle had become the talk of both schools.
  5. boorish
    ill-mannered and coarse in behavior or appearance
    “The only reason this happened is because you chose me! YOU CHOSE ME, you boorish, brainless thug!”
  6. fluke
    a stroke of luck
    “It was a fluke. If I could make wishes come true, I’d be home with my friend and my cat.”
  7. divulge
    make known to the public information previously kept secret
    As the turbaned teacher divulged more Arabian Beauty Secrets, Agatha slumped into the couch.
  8. incorrigible
    impervious to correction by punishment
    “That’s what I thought, but who lies about breaking so many rules?” Dot said, failing to turn her swan crest to chocolate. “Really, this bird is incorrigible.”
  9. errant
    moving in an uncontrolled, irregular, or unpredictable way
    Across the painting, an errant ray of sun spotlit a gaunt boy in black beating a cat with a stick.
  10. geriatric
    of or relating to the aged
    Before she could even try to ask about his paintings, Sader had taken off to meet his Evil students, leaving three geriatric pigs to lecture about the importance of fortifying one’s houses.
  11. fester
    gnaw into; make resentful or angry
    “Well,” said Agatha, turning to him, “the Hopsocotl Spell worms its way into your brain like a swarm of leeches. It swims its way into every cranny, breeding, multiplying, festering for just the right moment..."
  12. feasibility
    the quality of being doable
    Now, the three keys to Good Deeds are creativity, feasibility, and spontaneity—
  13. spontaneity
    the quality of coming from feelings without constraint
    Now, the three keys to Good Deeds are creativity, feasibility, and spontaneity—
  14. emeritus
    honorably retired from assigned duties
    “PRESENTING CLARISSA DOVEY, DEAN OF THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF GOOD DEEDS,” said Castor.
  15. akimbo
    with hands on hips and elbows extending outward
    Beatrix turned to Agatha, arms akimbo.
  16. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    A gray wolf, stoic and efficient, tugged Sophie by a long chain fixed to a tight iron collar around her neck.
  17. sinewy
    possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful
    But this one had a human’s body with a thick, hairy chest, sinewy arms, bulging calves, and massive feet.
  18. cudgel
    a club that is used as a weapon
    He considered a cudgel for a moment, then moved on. “Villains learn from pain.”
  19. roiling
    (of a liquid) agitated vigorously; in a state of turbulence
    The Beast lumbered out of the cell and knelt at the midpoint between roiling muck and clean water.
  20. emboss
    raise in a relief
    She flipped the page to start, but it didn’t have words. Splashed across it were patterns of embossed dots in a rainbow of colors, small as pinheads.
  21. wizened
    lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness
    She crouched to watch a silent vision unfold of three wizened old men, beards to the floor, standing in the School Master’s tower with hands united.
  22. exhaustive
    performed comprehensively and completely
    Agatha’s hands swept over dots, scanning exhaustive scenes of Great War battles, alliances, betrayals to see how it all ended.
  23. beholden
    under a moral obligation to someone
    From the final fight between Evil brother and Good brother, a victor emerged beholden to neither side. In the Great Truce, the triumphant School Master vowed to rise above Good and Evil and protect the balance for as long as he could keep himself alive.
  24. tendril
    slender structure by which some plants attach to an object
    A vine shot up and yanked her in.
    Too stunned to scream, she plunged through dazzling pinks, blues, yellows, as more tendrils lashed and fastened around her like safety belts.
  25. sultry
    attractive and suggesting hidden passion
    Besides its strong, soothing pace and delicious scents, there was an orchestra of lizards for each line: the TANGERINE LINE lizards strummed bouncy banjo guitars, the VIOLET LINE ones played sultry sitars, and the lizards on Sophie’s line piped up-tempo jingles on piccolos, accompanied by caroling blue frogs.
  26. carol
    sing joyful songs, especially Christmas songs
    Besides its strong, soothing pace and delicious scents, there was an orchestra of lizards for each line: the TANGERINE LINE lizards strummed bouncy banjo guitars, the VIOLET LINE ones played sultry sitars, and the lizards on Sophie’s line piped up-tempo jingles on piccolos, accompanied by caroling blue frogs.
  27. bleak
    unpleasantly cold and damp
    Headstones the color of the bleak sky swept over barren hills.
  28. resplendent
    having great beauty
    ...he rested a resplendent queen’s silver tomb beside a matching king’s.
  29. flaccid
    drooping without elasticity
    “But how? He thinks I’m a villain! He hates me! Aggie, he’s a king’s son. He’s beautiful, he’s perfect and look at me—” She grabbed her shorn hair and flaccid robes.
  30. squelch
    suppress or crush completely
    Agatha squelched her doubts and clasped Sophie tighter.
  31. fatuous
    devoid of intelligence
    He vowed to forget girls, then noticed one getting attention, set out to prove he could get her, got her, and discovered she was a fatuous prince hunter who had had her eye on him all along.
  32. flounce
    walk in an emphatic or exaggerated way
    But Sophie had already flounced to the Evers’ side, plopped next to Tedros, and held out her pail.
  33. discern
    recognize or perceive a difference or distinction
    “Each week, we’ll repeat the challenge to discern Good from Evil, since it is the most crucial skill you will take into the Woods,” Yuba announced.
  34. trifle
    act frivolously
    “Rule #5. Nevers don’t trifle with love,” Yuba crabbed.
  35. imperiously
    in a manner showing arrogant superiority
    The princess melted into Beatrix, smiling imperiously—Tedros dropped her hand like a hot stone.
  36. accost
    approach and speak to someone aggressively or insistently
    Shielding herself from a morning storm, Agatha accosted Hester in the Nevers’ lunch line.
  37. gaunt
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    When Agatha made it to puddled Halfway Bridge, her reflection was waiting for her, more glum and gaunt than the last time.
  38. despondent
    without or almost without hope
    Sophie was so despondent she even ate a piece of Dot’s chocolate.
  39. amenable
    disposed or willing to comply
    “Never mind. Just give him a little milk and he’ll be more amenable.”
  40. elicit
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    “‘Once a boy is under this spell, he will instantly fall in love with you and do whatever you ask,”’ Anadil read. “‘Works particularly well with eliciting proposals of marriage and invitations to Balls.’”
Created on Thu Apr 22 13:26:51 EDT 2021 (updated Thu Apr 29 15:25:35 EDT 2021)

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