Anya and the Nightingale: Chapters 1–6

by Sofiya Pasternack
Anya, Ivan, and the magical dragon set out on a mission to bring Anya's father home from war, but during their journey, they encounter the Nightingale — a monster who is terrorizing travelers in the forest.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–11, Chapters 12–18, Chapters 19–28, Chapters 29–39
40 words 134 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. obscure
    make unclear or less visible
    That was one of the rules of building the booth: there could be nothing over it that would obscure a view of the sky.
  2. indifferent
    showing no care or concern in attitude or action
    “I worked hard on this, you stupid goat!”
    "Myah,” he said, indifferent to her anguish.
  3. haphazard
    marked by great carelessness
    Anya had built a haphazard sukkah, and then her friends Ivan and Håkon had come over to see it.
  4. prune
    cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of
    Papa always used pruned lengths of the roses that climbed the little house, weaving them into a very loose topping, but those roses had burned when the old house had last year.
  5. sparse
    not dense or plentiful
    She didn’t want to cut some off when they were so sparse to begin with.
  6. conscript
    enroll into service compulsorily
    Last year, just before Purim, Anya’s life had turned sideways when Papa had been conscripted and sent to Rûm.
  7. exasperated
    greatly annoyed; out of patience
    Anya blinked long, exasperated.
  8. salve
    a preparation applied externally as a soothing remedy
    Babulya had been delivering salves and potions all around the village for years in secret.
  9. magistrate
    a lay judge or civil authority who administers the law
    After the magistrate had left, the villagers found out Babulya was the mysterious potions maker.
  10. astringent
    a liquid for cleansing the skin and contracting the pores
    Sasha Melnik’s poor face looks like he’s got pox, but it’s pimples, so we’ll make him an astringent.
  11. mortar
    a vessel in which substances can be ground with a pestle
    Mama ground up the flowers with a mortar and pestle.
  12. waft
    be driven or carried along, as by the air
    It turned a dark beige with swirls of white throughout, and the scent wafted up to Anya.
  13. furtively
    in a secretive manner
    Furtively, Anya checked the road behind her and across the bridge on the other side.
  14. crude
    not carefully or expertly made
    Anya watched his doodle turn into a crude drawing of Zvezda.
  15. relegate
    assign to a lower position
    She’d be the princess, and that amounted to sitting in a cage he built out of stone or ice or something, and watching him and Ivan battle with magic. It wasn’t her favorite, especially since she could use a weapon and didn’t need to be relegated to being stuck in a cage.
  16. plait
    a hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair
    Mila always had hers braided perfectly around the crown of her head, and today she was carefully sliding tiny flowers into the plait as she followed Verusha.
  17. roil
    be agitated
    A surge of jealousy roiled Anya’s belly—she still didn’t have any magic, water or otherwise—but she managed to smile.
  18. tenuous
    weak or unstable
    Even Babulya created tenuous friendships with the collection of grandmothers whose sole purpose seemed to be creating warm garments for any child who got too close to them.
  19. abandon
    the trait of lacking restraint or control
    It was Ivan, a jaunt in his step and a cap too warm for the weather sideways on his head, swinging the metal-topped staff Kin had made for him with sloppy abandon.
  20. balk
    refuse to proceed or comply
    “Why didn’t you come closer?”
    He balked.
  21. harried
    troubled persistently, especially with petty annoyances
    A harried Sveta answered the door when Anya knocked.
  22. idolatry
    the worship of objects or images as gods
    Dyedka would pray to some idols and get Babulya clucking at him about idolatry, like she did at every Slavist festival.
  23. dejected
    affected or marked by low spirits
    Sasha looked dejected for a second, then brightened again.
  24. boisterous
    noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
    She was getting used to his brothers’ boisterous affections.
  25. uncommonly
    exceptionally; to an unusual degree
    His mama was uncommonly kind.
  26. saunter
    walk leisurely and with no apparent aim
    Ivan sauntered up to his home without a care.
  27. inevitably
    in such a manner as could not be otherwise
    She had the priest’s potion in her pocket, and she didn’t want it to break when Ivan’s brothers inevitably tackled her to the ground.
  28. threshold
    the entrance for passing through a room or building
    Ivan flung the door open and went inside. Anya followed, pausing at the threshold.
  29. procession
    the action of a group moving ahead in regular formation
    Anya nodded, and they followed the small procession south down the road. Dvoyka and Troyka walked ahead, big packs on their backs and a spring in their step.
  30. gaggle
    a large, disorganized group of people
    Ivan’s four other brothers followed in a gaggle, and their parents trailed after them.
  31. abreast
    alongside each other, facing in the same direction
    Father Drozdov walked alone behind Yedsha and Marina, and Anya hurried to catch up with him. “Father,” she said as she came abreast of him.
  32. flush
    turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
    The priest’s face flushed, and Anya mumbled a “You’re welcome” before falling behind him.
  33. hobble
    walk unevenly due to pain, injury, or weakness
    "Ack!" Pyatsha yelled, hobbling half-bootless over the road.
  34. dire
    fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless
    The remaining brothers drew together at the end of the bridge. None of them stepped onto it, as if doing so would have some sort of dire consequence.
  35. flank
    the side between ribs and hipbone
    The driver slapped his reins against the horse’s flanks, and the wagon moved away again.
  36. coherent
    marked by an orderly and consistent relation of parts
    She couldn’t put any thoughts into a coherent collection in her head.
  37. grim
    filled with melancholy and despondency
    She wanted to know what he was sorry for, but she couldn’t ask. The possibilities of the answers were too grim.
  38. breach
    make an opening or gap in
    Ivan’s voice breached Anya’s silence: “Is everything okay, Anya?”
  39. listless
    marked by low spirits; showing no enthusiasm
    She grabbed onto his sleeve with a listless hand.
  40. stifling
    causing one to feel inhibited or oppressed
    The house was suddenly stifling. She backed to the door, slipped out while Mama cried, and let her feet take her up the road, away from her house, toward the ravine where Håkon lived.
Created on Thu May 12 13:57:18 EDT 2022 (updated Mon May 23 09:20:55 EDT 2022)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.