Don't Want to Be Your Monster: Chapters 20–31

by Deke Moulton
Foster brothers in a family created by two vampires, ten-year-old Adam and fourteen-year-old Victor discover there's a murderer in their Washington town, but they respond in different ways to the violent spilling of blood.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–19, Chapters 20–31
35 words 11 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. yarmulke
    a skullcap worn by religious Jews, especially at prayer
    “Maybe it’s any religious stuff and like, Christian stuff just gets the attention because it’s the biggest religion? You’re Jewish, right? Have you heard of anyone ever throwing a yarmulke at a vampire?”
  2. assume
    take to be the case or to be true
    “It didn’t even matter that she was married to Dad who, like, doesn’t even know Spanish, or that Dad was in the army. She wouldn’t leave the house sometimes, even when she got her citizenship. People just assumed she didn’t belong.”
  3. deem
    judge or regard in a particular way
    “All Jewish days start at sunset,” Shoshana says. “I mean, I could go on about how a lot of what the church deems witchcraft is actually just Judaism.”
  4. prone
    having a tendency
    There’s a reason vampires don’t live in places prone to thunderstorms. I grimace as my ears ring and red dots dance before my eyes.
  5. pelt
    rain heavily
    Shoshana and Luis don’t notice me, but instead scream in happy surprise as rain starts to pelt the windows.
  6. woo
    make amorous advances towards
    “Did he have fangs? What’d he look like? Must’ve been quite a guy for you to want to catch him. Did he try to woo you?”
  7. cul de sac
    a street with only one way in or out
    We pass by about twenty houses before we reach Luis and Alejandra’s. It’s near the end of the street, right before it turns into a cul-de-sac.
  8. mayhem
    violent and needless disturbance
    So I thought, like, maybe in the mayhem that baby got kidnapped. Thing is, that baby’s mom died in the explosion still holding onto swaddling blankets and stuff, so she was holding her baby when she died.
  9. artery
    a blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body
    I can sense the way blood fills the arteries and veins, the same way I could sense that Alejandra’s blood pressure changed.
  10. garbled
    lacking orderly continuity
    Maybe it’s the slow, rhythmic way the coyote’s blood pumps in its body, but my ears hear Mama like she’s talking underwater—all garbled and hard to understand.
  11. contract
    squeeze or push together
    I can feel it, the blood pumping through the coyote’s body. The expanding and contracting of its heart, pumping and pulling blood through its body.
  12. parasite
    an animal or plant that lives in or on a host
    Only the idea mortals have now, that vampires are evil. Like a parasite: only taking from mortals, giving nothing back.
  13. barge
    push one's way
    Mom barges into the house, a wave of anger rolling in with her.
  14. clarify
    make clear and comprehensible
    “Nah, healing stuff,” Sung says.
    “We already heal fast.”
    “Healing mortals,” Sung clarifies.
  15. indulge
    yield to; give satisfaction to
    Maybe I should have indulged him more, done more to develop your vampire powers.
  16. goad
    provoke as by constant criticism
    Why I really want to hurt Victor now, I don’t know, but I do. Or at least make him think about how selfish he is. Or maybe goad him into talking to me.
  17. revolting
    highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
    Leather touches my face. Gloved hands, which is absolutely revolting. I don’t want to be touched.
  18. sporadic
    recurring in scattered or unpredictable instances
    My breathing becomes sporadic. Unsteady.
  19. gauntlet
    a glove of armored leather that protects the hand
    The leather gloves are like gauntlets going up his arms.
  20. incoherent
    without logical or meaningful connection
    My lips are all numb and giant and clumsy, and I mumble something incoherent.
  21. conventional
    conforming with accepted standards
    Vampirism isn’t a sickness in the conventional sense. It completely rewrites the victim’s DNA.
  22. rogue
    disposed to or engaged in defiance of authority or rules
    No, vampires don’t tend to live rogue. And one as clean as this one? No scars? No, this one has companions.
  23. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    “We can coax out all the other ones in its clan,” Glasses Man said.
  24. sternum
    the breastbone
    He pushes one of his knuckles in the middle of my chest. And pushes hard.
    The pain steals my breath away. It is engulfing. Awful. And gone the instant Glasses Man takes his hand away. Alejandra covers her mouth with her hands.
    Glasses Man smiles. “The sternum rub,” he explains to Alejandra.
  25. infiltrate
    enter a group or organization in order to spy on the members
    They look just like us too. Infiltrating us. Infecting us. They’d get away with turning more if it weren’t for hunters like us keeping them afraid, keeping them in check.
  26. sleight
    adroitness in using the hands
    You didn’t notice my sleight of hand, but what you got injected with? That was a dart of strychnine.
  27. seizure
    a sudden attack characterized by spasms or convulsions
    Is she having a seizure because she’s lost a bunch of blood again? Alejandra’s arms are shaking so badly I’m afraid she’s going to accidentally hit someone.
  28. precedence
    status established in order of importance or urgency
    I looked into it, and centuries ago, the old rabbis ruled that vampires can totally be Jewish because of pikuach nefesh—that saving a life, even if it’s your own life, takes precedence over any religious law.
  29. contingency
    a possible event or occurrence or result
    “He’s smart. Like, creepy-level smart. When I told him I didn’t want to learn how to hunt vampires with him, he decided to kill me. He literally had a back-up plan ready for every contingency.”
  30. unwavering
    not showing abrupt variations
    He’s burning bright and vivid in my mind, like this solid, unwavering rock.
  31. coalesce
    fuse or cause to come together
    They’re heavy and motionless and full of tranquilizer, but once I focus on them, they coalesce into my mind as someone vibrant and powerful.
  32. mirage
    something illusory and unattainable
    Glasses Man raises a hand up to block out the blinding beam—which, in my opinion, means I’ve nailed an absolutely perfect mirage. Scary, but not too heavy on the details. It’s not like I can really do details right now.
  33. implore
    beg or request earnestly and urgently
    I’d heard Adam’s voice in my head, encouraging me and imploring me to help…was that because we were connected, like what Mama said about doing the puzzle?
  34. feint
    deceive by a mock action
    Be surprised another time—he’s feinting about going for the rifle. He’s got a killer-poison-dart in his hand.
  35. ominously
    in a manner suggesting something bad will happen
    “Someone really wants him to keep hunting vampires,” Mom says ominously.
Created on Mon Jun 03 09:10:52 EDT 2024 (updated Mon Jun 03 18:54:17 EDT 2024)

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.