Into the Sunken City: Chapters 1–3

by Dinesh Thiru
In a future world, most cities are now deep underwater and inhabitants like Jin, her sister Thara, and their companions live sparingly by diving for treasure in these sunken cities. A ragtag team is assembled to find a massive stash of gold in the ruins of Vegas-Drowned, but many obstacles — corsairs, sea beasts, fear of diving — threaten their very lives.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–7, Chapters 8–11, Chapters 12–17, Chapters 18–24
15 words 21 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. waft
    be driven or carried along, as by the air
    Spume mounds in fluffy piles next to me, the smell wafting over the dock, all salt and decomposing fish bits.
  2. fluke
    either of the two lobes of the tail of a cetacean
    The water’s chilly, and it’ll only get colder the deeper I go, but the wetsuit will insulate me fine. The real issue is the pressure, and I move a hand to my nose, pinching and equalizing as I thrust the fin like a dolphin’s fluke.
  3. sea star
    a marine animal with five pointed arms
    The inside of the home’s small, two rooms, and mostly gutted....I open a door toward the back and there’s a bathroom, toilet covered in a dozen purple sea stars and a creature’s large translucent eggs in the sink (nesting ground—dangerous).
  4. translucent
    allowing light to pass through diffusely
    The inside of the home’s small, two rooms, and mostly gutted....I open a door toward the back and there’s a bathroom, toilet covered in a dozen purple sea stars and a creature’s large translucent eggs in the sink (nesting ground—dangerous).
  5. mottled
    having spots or patches of color
    I look down and see the head of a massive California moray, easily eight feet long with a mottled yellow-brown body as wide as my thigh.
  6. adrenaline
    hormone secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress
    I unfasten my weight belt and kick my legs as hard as they’ll go. My heart’s about to burst from effort, adrenaline, and raw terror.
  7. convulsion
    a violent uncontrollable contraction of muscles
    Convulsions rip across my chest again.
  8. hypoxia
    oxygen deficiency
    My thoughts fade. Can’t feel my hands, feet. Vision blurring, the mental disorientation of hypoxia clamps down. My father’s voice—Push, Jin. Push.
  9. mandatory
    required by rule
    They offer food and shelter in exchange for mandatory service. Starts at sixteen for Navy-supported orphans.
  10. frigate
    a warship larger than a destroyer and smaller than a cruiser
    At that age, you get assigned to a frigate in the Pacific or the Straits of Southern Africa (where the powers that be are still fighting over scraps of land).
  11. conscription
    compulsory military service
    Being a seaside inn, I’ve met many of these drifter types: some Navy deserters, some dodging conscription, some who shelter in abandoned coves and ride ashore from time to time to resupply.
  12. panoply
    a complete and impressive array
    Dad did the parlor right, though: a massive steel bar, eight stools, shelving behind it dotted with jars of dried teas, matés, spices, and a panoply of pots and mugs all recovered from our wrecking tours.
  13. quell
    overcome or allay
    My pulse quickens, my foot tapping, and, to quell the shakes, I widen my stance, my hands on my hips.
  14. bionic
    having one or more electromechanical body parts
    “Number one: man comes along with a bionic leg, you tell me straightaway..."
  15. fetid
    offensively malodorous
    “Were you diving?” Thara asks, tossing her lank hair over her shoulder. It should smell like a fetid swamp, but she washes and combs it each night, and it smells like this citrus soap we splurged on once.
Created on Mon Aug 17 20:43:01 EDT 2026 (updated Tue Sep 08 10:37:06 EDT 2026)

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