Dream, Annie, Dream: Chapters 14–21

by Waka T. Brown
At a summer theater camp in Kansas, twelve-year-old Aoi Inoue decides to change her name to Annie Enoway, hoping that it would be the first step towards star-filled accomplishments.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–13, Chapters 14–21, Chapters 22–31, Chapters 32–41
40 words 6 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. constricting
    tending to narrow or restrict freedom
    By the time we’d graduated from Iron Hills Elementary, we knew everyone in the school, and everyone knew us. In a way it was comforting, but it was also constricting—like wearing a pair of jeans two sizes too small.
  2. throng
    a large gathering of people
    Throngs of students in the unfamiliar hallways, most of whom we didn’t recognize.
  3. jostle
    make one's way by pushing or shoving
    The older students jostled and bumped past us like we weren’t there.
  4. sift
    check and sort carefully
    By the time she told us we’d even learn about the jaw-dropping Industrial Revolution, I was pretty much convinced this class would end up more like sifting through a plot of dirt with a toothbrush.
  5. ponder
    reflect deeply on a subject
    He scratched his mustache and looked off to the side, pondering.
  6. cameo
    engraving or carving in low relief on a stone
    She wore drab gray “teacher clothes”—a vest over an off-white blouse with a prim collar buttoned all the way to the top, and even fastened with a cameo brooch to double/triple ensure that—God forbid—she show part of her neck.
  7. brooch
    a decorative pin
    She wore drab gray “teacher clothes”—a vest over an off-white blouse with a prim collar buttoned all the way to the top, and even fastened with a cameo brooch to double/triple ensure that—God forbid—she show part of her neck.
  8. frumpy
    drab, old-fashioned, and unattractive
    Plus, there was something else about her. Not her frumpy old outfit, or the creaky ol’ singsongy voice she used when she talked to us like babies.
  9. prestigious
    having an excellent reputation; respected
    In the article, it talked about how Asian American kids were doing great in school and attending all these prestigious universities.
  10. subdued
    quieted and brought under control
    Since science was first period, the class was subdued and quiet since we were all pretty sleepy, teacher included.
  11. blatantly
    in a completely obvious manner
    I guess in the “good ol’ days” it was okay for teachers to blatantly favor boys over girls too.
  12. surly
    unfriendly and inclined toward anger or irritation
    Even though I hadn’t forgotten Natalie’s surly attitude from this summer, I didn’t think she deserved that.
  13. gangly
    tall, thin, and awkward
    Even though she seemed gangly and awkwardly gigantic when she tried out for “Little” Orphan Annie, something told me she’d feel more at home on the basketball court.
  14. scrimmage
    practice playing (a sport)
    Ms. Johnson then divided us into two teams and handed half of us stinky red mesh jerseys to scrimmage in.
  15. snag
    obtain by acting quickly or smartly
    She smirked as she snagged the ball.
  16. grouse
    complain
    “Come on, Coach!” Natalie groused. “She totally flopped!”
  17. drone
    talk in a monotonous voice
    As the principal droned on now about grades and the importance of studying, I only thought about The King and I.
  18. genuinely
    in accordance with truth or fact or reality
    I was genuinely confused.
  19. balk
    show unwillingness towards
    There were other items my mom could have made. Like kappa maki, which were relatively easy—just cucumbers and rice rolled into a sheet of nori seaweed—but the event organizers balked at that. “Seaweed? Sounds weird!”
  20. morsel
    a small amount of solid food; a mouthful
    We dropped a tablespoon of the filling inside each doughy skin, pinching first in the middle, then each end, and finally tucking and gathering the extra dough to form a neat, crescent-shaped morsel.
  21. nimble
    moving quickly and lightly
    Tak helped roll out the dough since his little fingers weren’t nimble enough to form the pleats.
  22. cinch
    pull, fasten, or tie something tightly
    After twenty more minutes of pleating, folding, adjusting, and cinching, Mom finally had her kimono on.
  23. adorned
    decorated or dressed up to be more beautiful or distinct
    It was a soft mint green adorned with pink and white blossoms that cascaded over one shoulder and pooled at the bottom hem.
  24. elaborate
    marked by complexity and richness of detail
    She wrapped a contrasting silver obi over it with an elaborate pattern woven into its fabric, and tied it in a type of knot that made it poof in the back.
  25. assess
    estimate the nature, quality, ability or significance of
    “You don’t look half bad when you dress up,” she assessed.
  26. teeming
    abundantly filled with especially living things
    At the bazaar, the church basement was teeming with people milling about tasting all the treats, drinking coffee and hot cider from Styrofoam cups, and laughing.
  27. segue
    changing smoothly from one state or situation to another
    They wished each other “Merry Christmas!” loudly and often as a segue to moving along, especially when they had run out of things to say to each other.
  28. stifle
    smother or suppress
    I stifled a cough as Jessica’s mother approached and her overly floral-scented perfume enveloped us.
  29. wary
    openly distrustful and unwilling to confide
    Come to think of it, that’s when she stopped talking about herself to other people in general. So maybe she wasn’t really shy. She was wary.
  30. pore
    any small opening in the skin or outer surface of an animal
    Then the coughing began, and I couldn’t sleep despite the fatigue that seeped into every pore of my body.
  31. solemnly
    in a serious and dignified manner
    Dad nodded solemnly.
  32. muse
    reflect deeply on a subject
    “The roads might get tricky,” Mom mused.
  33. pulpit
    a platform raised to give prominence to the person on it
    The church we went to looked so pretty during the holiday season, with a tall, real tree, covered in so many decorations that the limbs looked tired trying to hold them all up. Red-and-green poinsettias livened up the entryway and the steps that led to the pulpit.
  34. daunting
    discouraging through fear
    In some ways, it was great because there was so much flexibility and we could choose the song that best suited our voice and range. In other ways, though, it was daunting because
 there were so many songs that weren't in The King and I that it made my head swim!
  35. haughty
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    We squeezed onto the sofa and Tak and I laughed at the stubborn and haughty king’s antics.
  36. rapt
    feeling great delight and interest
    We listened in rapt attention at Anna Leonowens’s wise advice and beautiful singing.
  37. pneumonia
    a serious illness of the lungs that makes it difficult to breathe
    “Well, the good news is that it’s not pneumonia. I’ve been seeing a lot of patients with similar issues. It’s been a bad flu season.”
  38. mite
    small arachnid that infests animals, plants, or stored foods
    We’re going to do a skin prick test for dust mites, mold, cats...to see if any of those things are what’s bothering you.
  39. welt
    a raised mark on the skin
    Two areas on my arm began to grow red and very itchy.
    Two welts formed.
  40. weal
    a raised mark on the skin
    The nurse took a small ruler and measured the size of the “weal,” which is what they called it. The first weal was just a histamine, a type of control to see that the test was working.
Created on Wed Dec 06 14:06:17 EST 2023 (updated Mon Dec 18 14:04:35 EST 2023)

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.