City of Saints and Thieves: Chapters 27–37

by Natalie C. Anderson
Following the murder of her mother, sixteen-year old Tina is on a quest for revenge. She must survive Sangui City's dangerous streets while waiting for a chance to avenge her mother's death.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–9, Chapters 10–18, Chapters 19–26, Chapters 27–37, Chapters 38–44
35 words 6 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. wistful
    showing pensive sadness
    I stare at Saint Catherine with her rosy cheeks and wistful gaze.
  2. unflappable
    not easily perturbed, excited, or upset
    She is as unflappable as ever. I take a deep breath to try to calm down, the richness of the smell of wet earth and rotting leaves outside filling my lungs.
  3. solemn
    dignified and somber in manner or character
    I glance around the empty chapel and can just make out solemn rows of pews and simple stained-glass windows speckled with rain.
  4. compel
    necessitate or exact
    “These are good people who work at this clinic, Christina. We wouldn’t stay here and see what horrors we do every day if we didn’t care, if we didn’t feel compelled by God. The nuns, the men and women who work here, they are good.”
  5. buoyant
    characterized by liveliness and lightheartedness
    He’s the only member of the party looking buoyant and rested, marching along ahead of us like a Boy Scout on patrol.
  6. cajole
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
    “Come on,” I cajole the kid.
  7. adamant
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
    The boy shakes his head adamantly.
  8. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    I’m as skeptical as anyone else that we’ll find Catherine’s house as promised, but sure enough, and to everyone’s relief, we soon crest a hill and come out of the forest to find a sunny field.
  9. tawny
    having the color of tanned leather
    Before we can turn the corner, though, we hear a bark, and an enormous tawny dog comes bounding around the side of the house, hackles raised.
  10. disgruntled
    in a state of sulky dissatisfaction
    Michael is still giving Boyboy a disgruntled look, but sighs and says, “Maybe we can get Sister Dorothy to talk to her.”
  11. concede
    admit or acknowledge, often reluctantly
    “All right,” I finally concede, “I believe you. Mostly.”
  12. rickety
    inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
    We slosh through, and in the half-light I see there’s a man already inside the building, perched on a rickety-looking platform raised on concrete blocks, up out of the water.
  13. jaundice
    yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes
    He stands, skinny, jaundice-eyed, ready to shoo us out.
  14. trappings
    ornaments; embellishments to or characteristic signs of
    On the platform I see the minimal trappings of a squatter.
  15. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    “They go that way,” he yells, and I pray his gnarled finger is pointing toward the path.
  16. forte
    an asset of special worth or utility
    I don’t know where the old man comes from, but Swahili isn’t his forte.
  17. stanch
    stop the flow of a liquid
    Michael looks at his hand, peeling back a fistful of his T-shirt that he’s been using to stanch the blood.
  18. dour
    harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
    The dour, black maid uniform she wears utterly fails to mask her beauty.
  19. defiant
    boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
    She stares at him for a long moment, before her expression hardens into something else. Something almost... defiant.
  20. sheen
    the visual property of something that shines
    A glossy sheen hovers near her heart.
  21. sieve
    a strainer for separating lumps from powdered material
    My heart feels like it’s being pressed through a sieve.
  22. redolent
    noticeably odorous
    It was rotten like outhouses and the medical garbage pile, and it grew stronger whenever the three were together. Eventually, they realized that it wasn’t being borne in on the wind; it was coming from them, out of their pores, caught in their hair, redolent on their breath.
  23. pungent
    strong and sharp to the sense of taste or smell
    The women scrubbed and scrubbed, and drank sweet teas, but no matter what they did, the hell they had passed through lingered over them, clearing rooms with its stink. It was pungent, embarrassing, pervasive, and impossible to get rid of.
  24. pervasive
    spreading or spread throughout
    The women scrubbed and scrubbed, and drank sweet teas, but no matter what they did, the hell they had passed through lingered over them, clearing rooms with its stink. It was pungent, embarrassing, pervasive, and impossible to get rid of.
  25. cloister
    seclude from the world
    The quiet woman’s stomach grew round and large and the reverend mother called her to her office and explained that, while the quiet one could still be a nurse, the cloistered life was no longer appropriate.
  26. bewildered
    extremely confused and uncertain what to do
    The war brought do-gooders and missionaries who looked bewildered and thrilled all at once, and mining men who acted like the kind of dogs that never bark, that only bite.
  27. indulgent
    tolerant or lenient
    Mr. Omoko smiles indulgently. “You’re not one for playing by the rules, Tina, are you? Most of the time I like that about you. I ask for Greyhill’s treasures, and that’s what you bring me. Just not exactly how I’d expected.”
  28. salvageable
    capable of being fixed or saved from ruin
    Plans. They’re a little off, but salvageable.
  29. fodder
    an inferior but widely available resource used to supply heavy demand
    One more white colonial type profiting off Africa. It’ll be back-page fodder at best.
  30. stupor
    a state of being half-awake
    His words pull me out of my stupor.
  31. cheeky
    offensively bold
    Why did you get away with being cheeky? With being different?
  32. fatigues
    military uniform worn by personnel when doing menial labor
    Plus thirty or so guys in ratty fatigues. From the looks of the camp, they’ve been here awhile. The Goondas and the militia dudes don’t mix.
  33. incessantly
    without interruption
    I see it like I am far away, like I’m one of those incessantly twittering birds watching from the trees.
  34. labored
    requiring or showing effort
    For a while, there is nothing but the labored sound of Boyboy breathing.
  35. palatial
    relating to or being a large and stately residence
    At the time I was still getting used to the Greyhills’ palatial estate.
Created on Tue Aug 23 10:31:19 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Sep 23 12:43:00 EDT 2022)

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