High Spirits: List 2

by Camille Gomera-Tavarez
In eleven interconnected stories inspired by her family in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Spain, and the United States, the author describes the lives of several generations of the Beléns.

This list covers "Cut Day"–"Skipping Stones."

Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2, List 3
40 words 103 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. subside
    wear off or die down
    A minute of silence passed after the sound of shuffling subsided.
  2. nonchalantly
    in a composed and unconcerned manner
    “Do you think it’s a gun or like a bomb scare again?” Yasmin asked nonchalantly.
  3. assert
    state categorically
    “We can still leave at 8:40 after this is over,” Daya asserted.
  4. uninhibited
    not restrained
    As she promised God she would find time to go to Wednesday night mass, Daya filtered through thoughts of the pure, uninhibited freedom she would feel as soon as she stepped foot into the parking lot.
  5. unbridled
    not restrained or controlled
    The thrill of finally escaping the center of unbridled chaos that was her underfunded, overcrowded high school (a chaos she was sure she would probably miss by next year).
  6. amenities
    things that make you comfortable and at ease
    It didn’t help that there was only one hotel in town, either. And hotel was a strong word. More like a five-bedroom home with amenities like free premium bottled water for bathing, the self-proclaimed best arepa cakes in the country, and a family of street cats living in the kitchen.
  7. garner
    acquire or deserve by one's efforts or actions
    Yolanda was the object of every little boy’s affection in the town, garnering various whistles and catcalls.
  8. benevolent
    intending or showing kindness
    They lorded their Americanness around like princesses. Benevolent ones, though. Every other night they used the American money they’d exchanged for pesos to buy frío frío for all the neighborhood kids.
  9. blatantly
    in a completely obvious manner
    Never in his entire career of people-watching had he ever so blatantly been caught.
  10. quip
    a witty saying
    They kept walking in better spirits, sharing similar quips and one-word answers.
  11. intoxicating
    extremely exciting
    He’d never experienced belonging to a tribe like this. They all fit together like a scene out of a novela. It was intoxicating.
  12. fervid
    characterized by intense emotion
    He stopped sobbing and started nodding fervidly.
  13. earnest
    characterized by a firm, sincere belief in one's opinions
    As detached as it sounded coming out of his mouth, this was the most earnest Christian had ever been towards him or any of his own children.
  14. scoff
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    Surely, when her brother Tito had put her into a chokehold when they were kids, their mother had simply scoffed it off.
  15. escapade
    a wild and exciting undertaking
    Normally, only one could sneak out at a time, as it would require either Maritza or Tito to stay behind and drop the rickety fire-escape ladder down outside Tito’s room as quietly as possible so the other could return from their escapades.
  16. muddle
    mix up or confuse
    Maritza’s head was too muddled to figure out why.
  17. cumbersome
    difficult to handle or use, especially because of size or weight
    On the side of the road, in still darkness, she was now truly alone and at least half a mile from the payphone with the dead weight of Jackie’s cumbersome body to carry.
  18. blare
    make a loud noise
    Early in the morning on the twenty-third of February, every resident of la Avenida Eduardo Conde was awoken by the blaring of a red Ford F-150 adorned with a Puerto Rican flag on the rear window.
  19. console
    a scientific instrument with displays and an input device
    Despite historically being beaten or berated when he heard his middle name spoken, Yoanson closed the Game Boy Advance console that was illuminating his face in the dark staff bathroom.
  20. stifle
    smother or suppress
    His teenage sister, Emely, stifled a laugh from under a hooded dryer.
  21. memorabilia
    objects that are valued because of their link to historical events or a particular interest
    José’s booming voice bounced off the farthest barber’s chair and ricocheted between the walls—where one side was plastered with Boston Red Sox memorabilia and various Dominican flags, and the other had images of brown-skinned saints and multicolored rosaries.
  22. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    The other one, dressed in an all-black fit with the name Tony embroidered on his oversized shirt, dropped his clippers and approached them.
  23. prodigal
    recklessly wasteful
    “The prodigal son returns! Diablo, man, I ain’t seen you in years!”
  24. systemic
    affecting an entire structure, network, or complex of parts
    Y’all don’t ever wanna talk about liberation. I’m trynna tell my friend here about systemic oppression under a capitalist anti-Black society, and he hears ‘gremlins.’
  25. slander
    attack the good name and reputation of someone
    You just wanna keep slandering Dominicans.
  26. sheepish
    showing a sense of shame
    One barber just let out a dramatic “HA!” in Romy’s sheepish face.
  27. tepid
    feeling or showing little interest or enthusiasm
    Yoan nodded tepidly in agreement.
  28. estranged
    caused to be unloved
    It wasn’t short enough, Yoan’s estranged brother said, tugging at a coil.
  29. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    José lowered his voice and looked intently at his old friend.
  30. dissipate
    go away, scatter, or disappear
    His nerves had dissipated into the air, leaving his attention focused on the image in front of him, willing it to grow into something that felt...right.
  31. sullen
    showing a brooding ill humor
    Zahaira figured the sullen emotions from Ana’s grandfather passing surely hadn’t helped, but neither had her showing up like...this.
  32. barrio
    a district in a Spanish-speaking country
    If I gotta be stuck anywhere, might as well be the most beautiful barrio in the most beautiful country in the world.
  33. incessantly
    without interruption
    Zahaira said this with the same smile she wore when they would beg the pica-pollo lady for scraps of leftover chicken as kids. The same dimpled cheeks Ana would incessantly poke her fingers into.
  34. tulle
    a fine fabric net used for veils, tutus, or gowns
    She remembered she was wearing the yellow dress her abuela had stuffed her into and that she hated it more than anything. The seams pulled at her chubby arms and the tulle was like barbed wire on her thighs.
  35. sentiment
    a personal belief or judgment
    “And I don’t think it matters how much time you spent together. They loved you and your sisters, for sure.” Ana loved when her friend dropped her wall of clownery. But she wasn’t sure she agreed with the sentiment.
  36. composed
    serenely self-possessed and free from agitation
    She kept her expression relatively composed when she realized she was more alone than she’d ever been.
  37. straddle
    sit or stand astride of
    Girls were straddled over motorcycles.
  38. gradient
    the property of a line that departs from the horizontal
    The two girls stood in silence, watching rolls of seafoam creep over their toes. The sky was shifting its gradient every millisecond.
  39. beckon
    appear inviting
    She pictured the empty Belén house that had once beckoned Ana home.
  40. tendril
    something long, light, slender, and often curling
    The sun’s last tendrils of green were still holding on to the horizon.
Created on Tue May 30 14:59:38 EDT 2023 (updated Tue May 30 16:22:12 EDT 2023)

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