The School for Whatnots: Chapters 1–10

by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Born to very rich parents who can provide a technologically-enhanced education, Maximilian J. Sterling enjoys being at school, until the end of fifth grade, when his best friend suddenly disappears.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–10, Chapters 11–31, Chapters 32–46, Chapter 47–Epilogue
40 words 64 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. swaddle
    wrap very tightly in cloth, as a baby
    “Look, little man,” Mrs. Sterling murmured to her swaddled baby. “Everyone is so happy that you’re here, so delighted to rejoice with us.... You will always be surrounded with love.”
  2. dainty
    delicately beautiful
    She might have looked dainty and decorative, but she was a stalwart woman with a strong grip.
  3. stalwart
    having rugged physical strength
    She might have looked dainty and decorative, but she was a stalwart woman with a strong grip.
  4. custom
    made according to the specifications of an individual
    Was she not supposed to know that Mrs. Sterling’s husband collected custom cars and antique planes, and had hundreds of them stashed in garages and hangars all over the city?
  5. appeal
    attractiveness that interests or pleases or stimulates
    “You believe he will never know the difference between the beauty of his own soul and the appeal of all his money.”
  6. advent
    arrival that has been awaited
    Nurse Beverly generally did not think about what happened to the babies she tended past the advent of their first birthdays.
  7. fancy
    not plain; decorative or ornamented
    Whatnots?
    Of course that’s just a fancy rich-person name for something anybody else would describe with ordinary words.
  8. automaton
    a mechanism that can move independently of external control
    Robots that look and act so much like humans that no one can tell the difference—androids. Automatons.
  9. plush
    characterized by extravagance and softness
    Maximilian peered at the small person who’d plopped down onto the plush carpet square next to his just as class was about to start.
  10. haphazardly
    without care; in a slapdash manner
    Her dark hair stood up in two tufts circled haphazardly with ponytail rubber bands on opposite sides of her head.
  11. maraud
    raid and rove in search of plunder
    "What?" Maximilian said, peering around in case a band of marauding monkeys had just entered the room.
  12. unadorned
    not decorated with something to increase its beauty
    Their front door was plain and unadorned, and that intrigued Max enough that he didn’t knock right away.
  13. intrigue
    cause to be interested or curious
    Their front door was plain and unadorned, and that intrigued Max enough that he didn’t knock right away.
  14. indignantly
    in a manner showing anger at something unjust or wrong
    “You think I was ever some filthy little child playing in the gutter?” the chauffeur asked indignantly.
  15. hubbub
    loud confused noise from many sources
    And somehow in the hubbub of getting back into his car seat and arriving back at his house and having everyone exclaim over his first day of school, he never quite managed to ask.
  16. impart
    transmit, as knowledge or a skill
    Of course the classroom itself was perfect, so full of light and life and color that any five-year-old there would quickly learn the first lesson any good kindergarten teacher tries to impart: School is going to be so much fun!
  17. discreet
    not easily noticeable
    And of course the room was loaded with other technology, too, but it was just as discreetly hidden.
  18. pinnacle
    the highest level or degree attainable
    And the whatnots—the pinnacle of technological advancement—looked like perfectly normal children.
  19. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    Then Ivy sat perfectly still, perfectly erect, her hands folded perfectly in her lap, her head tilted ever so slightly to the left as she listened intently to the teacher’s every word.
  20. perpetual
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    And Josie might as well have been a perpetual motion machine, her head spinning around to gaze at everything in wonder, her toes tapping, her fingers fidgety.
  21. requisite
    necessary for relief or supply
    The whole class had had pizza and ice cream at midday, and Nurse Beverly and the three teenaged lifeguards hired for the occasion might have even let them back into the pool afterward without waiting the requisite thirty minutes after eating.
  22. coddle
    treat with excessive indulgence
    Even the richest, most overprotective parents could never keep their precious little children precious little children forever. Eventually even the most coddled child has to grow up.
  23. revelation
    an enlightening or astonishing disclosure
    Adults can debate endlessly about which age is right for which revelation.
  24. wean
    detach the affections of
    Because of the enormous changes youngsters go through around the ages of eleven or twelve, this has proven to be the ideal stage for weaning children from their whatnots.
  25. gravitate
    move toward
    After introductory exposure to peers (i.e., other children raised with whatnots) through a summer camp or afterschool activity, most children will naturally begin gravitating toward peers as friends rather than the whatnots.
  26. advisable
    worthy of being recommended or suggested; prudent or wise
    A more gradual approach may be advisable in some cases, as children can begin sixth grade in a half-whatnot, half-peer environment.
  27. casual
    not showing effort or strain
    “Max,” she said, and he could hear a new note in her voice: the effort it took to keep her tone casual and breezy.
  28. evidently
    in a manner that is obvious or unmistakable
    But a scrap of paper had evidently been tucked under the laptop, and it slid off the desk with the laptop and fluttered to the floor.
  29. overwhelm
    charge someone with too many tasks
    The charity hospital her father had rushed her mother to—the only one they could afford—was overcrowded, and the nurses and doctors there were exhausted and overwhelmed.
  30. substandard
    falling short of some prescribed norm
    But their best involved only substandard training and outdated equipment handed down from richer hospitals.
  31. chaplain
    a member of the clergy ministering to some institution
    The chaplain was just as overworked as the nurses and doctors. She’d been at the hospital for twelve hours straight. She’d technically clocked out four hours earlier, but there was still so much pain around her—so many hands to hold, so many shoulders to pat, so many sick and dying people to pray over.
  32. threadbare
    thin and tattered with age
    But Josie’s own familiar bed was just a mattress on the floor covered by a threadbare blanket.
  33. ideal
    conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection
    Josie’s father remembered the hospital chaplain apologizing, five years earlier, “What you’re about to be offered isn’t ideal. I wish I could do more than give you a choice between two bad options. But at least it’s a choice.”
  34. stupor
    feeling of distress and disbelief when something bad happens
    But he remembered the kindness in the brown eyes, the patience she’d had with his grief-stricken stupor.
  35. elaborate
    marked by complexity and richness of detail
    Later, there were bigger, fancier books with elaborate pictures that Josie’s father took to peering at himself at night, long after Josie was asleep, because they were so beautiful.
  36. voucher
    a negotiable certificate that can be redeemed as needed
    And there were museum tickets and swimming lesson vouchers and videos of wondrous places Josie’s father had never even heard of, that Josie would need to pretend she’d visited for real.
  37. beckon
    summon with a wave, nod, or some other gesture
    “Come,” the shadowy woman beckoned them.
  38. reel
    walk as if unable to control one's movements
    But her father reeled backward.
    “They look like...like coffins,” he choked out.
  39. attune
    adjust or accustom to; bring into harmony with
    “The lights are uniquely attuned to Josie’s genetic makeup,” the shadowy woman murmured. “This space will belong solely to her.”
  40. loophole
    an ambiguity that makes it possible to evade an obligation
    Josie’s father racked his brain for another loophole, something the woman hadn’t thought of that would mean he could still turn around and take Josie home with him.
Created on Mon Dec 18 08:53:01 EST 2023 (updated Tue Dec 19 08:28:37 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.