Everything, Everything: List 2: Everything's a Risk - Upside Down

by Nicola Yoon
Diagnosed with a rare immune disorder, Madeline is unable to experience the world outside her protective bubble. But when Olly moves in next door, she must decide whether to risk everything for love.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1: The White Room-Astronaut Ice Cream, List 2: Everything's A Risk-Upside Down, List 3: Skin-Infected, List 4: TTYL-Select All, Delete, List 5: Pretending-This Life

Here is a link to our lists for Nicola Yoon's novel The Sun Is Also a Star
45 words 127 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. antic
    a playful, attention-getting act done for fun and amusement
    Carla watches my antics in the mirror, amused and bemused at the same time.
  2. bemused
    perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements
    Carla watches my antics in the mirror, amused and bemused at the same time.
  3. manicure
    trim carefully and neatly
    It’s almost all glass—glass roof and floor-to-ceiling glass windows that look out onto our perfectly manicured back lawn.
  4. lush
    produced or growing in extreme abundance
    It’s filled with realistic and lush-looking fake tropical plants.
  5. sculpted
    cut into a desired shape
    His arms are lean and sculpted and his biceps fill the sleeves of his black T-shirt.
  6. guffaw
    laugh boisterously
    I guffaw. “How do you manage to carry around an ego that size and weight?”
  7. bane
    something causing misery or death
    “They’re the bane of my existence,” I say, referring to the freckles. This is a ridiculous thing to say because, of course, the bane of my existence is that I’m sick and unable to leave my house.
  8. subside
    wear off or die down
    “You’re funny,” he says after our laughter subsides.
  9. kinetic
    relating to the motion of material bodies and their forces
    Even though he’s still, I can feel the need to move coming off of him. The boy is kinetic energy.
  10. illicit
    contrary to or forbidden by law
    My heart speeds up like I’m doing something illicit.
  11. pity
    a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for misfortunes of others
    “Do not feel sorry for me.” I say this harshly, but it’s too important a point. I couldn’t stand pity coming from him.
  12. effortless
    not showing exertion or strain
    It’s such a graceful and effortless movement that I’m momentarily filled with envy.
  13. akimbo
    with hands on hips and elbows extending outward
    “You didn’t touch, right?” she asks, arms akimbo.
  14. acute
    experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course
    Patients with the most acute form of the disease can trigger an episode by simply thinking about their romantic interest.
  15. distracted
    having the attention diverted especially because of anxiety
    For the rest of the morning I’m too distracted to read or do homework.
  16. irreparable
    impossible to rectify or amend
    How many somersaults can a stomach do before becoming irreparably knotted?
  17. infinity
    time without end
    I keep picturing myself floating high above the earth. From the edge of space I can see the whole world all at once. My eyes don’t have to stop at a wall or at a door. I can see the beginning and the end of time. I can see infinity from there.
  18. annotate
    add explanatory notes to or supply with critical comments
    By evening I move on to rereading the annotated and illustrated version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
  19. futile
    producing no result or effect
    I spent so many days with my forehead pressed against my glass window, bruising myself with my futile wanting.
  20. nonplussed
    filled with bewilderment
    I believe nonplussed is the word for her expression.
  21. ellipsis
    a mark indicating that words have been omitted
    Madeline: ...
    Olly: does the ellipsis mean we're having an awkward silence or that you're thinking?
  22. interminable
    tiresomely long; seemingly without end
    Even though I agree with her that we should wait just to be safe, the week seems interminable.
  23. epoch
    a unit of geological time that is divided into ages
    After an epoch, the week finally ends.
  24. rummage
    search haphazardly
    I almost never wear shoes around the house and now I’m not sure that I can find a pair that will fit. Rummaging through the pile, I find a left and right one of the same size.
  25. punctuality
    the quality or habit of adhering to an appointed time
    My mother believes in punctuality the way other people believe in God.
  26. regimen
    a systematic plan for therapy
    “I’ve got them on a strict workout regimen,” he says, grinning at me.
  27. sepulchral
    gruesomely indicative of death or the dead
    “You only wear black! It makes you look sepulchral.”
  28. scythe
    an edge tool for cutting grass
    “Basically you’re the angel of death.”
    He grins at me. “The scythe gave me away, didn’t it? I thought I hid it so well.”
  29. awareness
    the state of having knowledge of something
    Our bodies are having their own conversation separate and apart from us. Is this the difference between friendship and something else? This awareness that I have of him?
  30. frustration
    the feeling of being thwarted in attaining your goals
    He says this last part quietly, but with the frustration of someone who’s been trying to solve the same unsolvable problem for a long time now.
  31. chaos
    a dynamical system sensitive to its initial conditions
    “The problem is chaos theory. There are too many inputs to the formula and even the small ones matter more than you think. And you can never measure them precisely enough. But! If you could, you could write a formula to predict the weather, the future, people.”
  32. unpredictable
    not capable of being foretold
    “You needed a whole branch of mathematics to tell you that people are unpredictable?”
  33. scenario
    a postulated sequence of possible events
    I guess I understand why, given our situation, her doctor’s brain would go immediately to the worst-case scenario.
  34. immune
    relating to or conferring resistance to disease
    She begins worrying that something’s wrong, that my immune system is compromised somehow.
  35. connoisseur
    an expert able to appreciate a field
    He’s a connoisseur and prides himself on making it from scratch.
  36. normalcy
    the state of being within the range of regular functioning
    Isn’t growing apart a part of growing up? Don’t I get to have even this bit of normalcy?
  37. schizophrenia
    a psychotic disorder characterized by distortions of reality
    “Is there such a thing as sudden onset schizophrenia?”
  38. flexibility
    the quality of being adaptable or variable
    Thank you for applying for your new Argentis FreedomCard, the credit card that allows you the flexibility and spending power to pursue your dreams and plan for the future.
  39. critique
    appraise or judge in an analytical way
    He flicks his rubber band as his eyes scan my body, mentally critiquing my lack of physical fortitude.
  40. fortitude
    strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity
    He flicks his rubber band as his eyes scan my body, mentally critiquing my lack of physical fortitude.
  41. stubborn
    refusing to change one's mind or ways; difficult to convince
    “Who knew you were this stubborn?”
    Not me. I didn’t know I was this stubborn.
  42. callus
    a skin area that is thick or hard from continual pressure
    He reaches out his right hand and grabs my left index finger. His hand is rough, uneven with calluses, and so warm.
  43. cocoon
    wrap, as for protection
    He rubs his thumb once across my knuckle and then cocoons my finger in the palm of his hand.
  44. disentangle
    extricate from a twisted mass
    I disentangle my finger so that I can entangle all the others until our palms are pressed against each other.
  45. correlation
    a reciprocal connection between two or more things
    And then your eyes. I swear they change color. Sometimes they’re almost black. Sometimes they’re brown. I’m trying to find a correlation between the color and your mood, but I don’t have it yet.
Created on Thu Aug 24 13:54:49 EDT 2017 (updated Tue Sep 12 16:28:40 EDT 2017)

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.