Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe: Part Four

by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Aristotle and Dante are two teenagers with classical names and loner attitudes. When their paths cross, they develop a friendship that will change their lives.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. accost
    approach and speak to someone aggressively or insistently
    Gina Navarro accosted me during lunch and said, “Accident?”
  2. entitled
    qualified for by right according to law
    Somehow she felt entitled to hound me because she’d known me since first grade.
  3. hound
    pursue or chase relentlessly
    Somehow she felt entitled to hound me because she’d known me since first grade.
  4. motto
    a favorite saying of a sect or political group
    That was her motto.
  5. melancholy
    a constitutional tendency to be gloomy and depressed
    “Don’t blame me for your melancholy.”
  6. mock
    treat with contempt
    “You’re mocking me.”
  7. constitute
    form or compose
    I sort of halfway listened in on everybody’s ideas of what constituted interesting.
  8. reside
    live in
    My mom, she sometimes resided in the space between irony and sincerity.
  9. sincerity
    the quality of being open and truthful
    My mom, she sometimes resided in the space between irony and sincerity.
  10. hobble
    walk unevenly due to pain, injury, or weakness
    Every day, I got up really early and hobbled over to my truck that was sitting in the garage.
  11. modernism
    genre that makes a self-conscious break with previous genres
    I think he's writing about the long poem after modernism or something like that.
  12. analysis
    literary criticism considering the structure of a text
    I’m sure my mom and I will attend the lecture. I love my dad but I'm not into all this academic stuff. Too much analysis.
  13. addiction
    being dependent on something habit-forming
    My mom is taking the opportunity to write a book about addictions and young people.
  14. syndrome
    a pattern of symptoms indicative of some disease
    But my mom says I suffer from only-child syndrome.
  15. specifically
    in distinction from others
    What would it be like to kiss a girl? Specifically, Ileana.
  16. belligerent
    characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight
    But he gets out quick because he doesn’t drive when he drinks—he just winds up in stupid places and he gets a little belligerent with people.
  17. bail
    secure the release of (someone) by providing security
    But someone always bails him out.
  18. disingenuous
    not straightforward or candid
    Okay, that’s a disingenuous start.
  19. contemporary
    belonging to the present time
    All kinds of art, contemporary and not-so-contemporary and, well,
    I could go and on, but I won’t.
  20. inane
    devoid of intelligence
    That’s an incredibly inane rule.
  21. reasonable
    showing sound judgment
    No reasonable person could be expected to keep that rule—not that I qualify as a reasonable person.
  22. qualify
    prove capable or fit; meet requirements
    No reasonable person could be expected to keep that rule—not that I qualify as a reasonable person.
  23. promptly
    with little or no delay
    She promptly broke her promise.
  24. mellow
    having attained gentleness through age and experience
    She just stood there and let us bathe her. Really tame and mellow dog.
  25. misanthrope
    someone who dislikes people in general
    Gina accused me of being a misanthrope.
  26. hunch
    an impression that something might be the case
    “Really?” I said. “I’ve never kissed a girl? And how exactly did you come by this bit of information?”
    “Just a hunch,” she said.
  27. ease
    the condition of being comfortable or relieved
    He seemed so at ease with himself, like he was at home.
  28. suspicious
    openly distrustful and unwilling to confide
    “That’s not fair. Why should I have to pay for the fact that you have a suspicious mind? Like that’s my fault.”
  29. loiter
    linger, remain, or wait around for no apparent reason
    I went out and found an old drunk loitering around the Circle K in Sunset Heights, begging for money.
  30. ingrate
    a person who shows no thankfulness or appreciation
    So why wasn’t I more grateful? Because I was an ingrate, that’s why.
  31. intimate
    marked by close acquaintance, association, or familiarity
    I wasn’t big on family gatherings. Too many intimate strangers.
  32. resolution
    a decision to do something or to behave in a certain manner
    “I have a New Year’s resolution for you.”
  33. flirt
    talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions
    One day I just flat out asked Ileana to go out on a date. I was tired of the flirting thing.
  34. pathetic
    deserving or inciting pity
    Just because I'm playing for the other team doesn’t mean that I’m this pathetic human being who's begging to be loved.
  35. ecstatic
    feeling great rapture or delight
    When I drove up, my mom was ecstatic.
Created on Mon Sep 18 14:25:24 EDT 2017 (updated Fri Oct 06 16:25:06 EDT 2017)

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