The Hunger Games: Chapters 7–12

by Suzanne Collins
Katniss Everdeen must fight for her life in a televised survival competition. Learn these words from the first book of Suzanne Collins's dystopian trilogy.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–12, Chapters 13–19, Chapters 20–27

Here are links to our lists for the trilogy: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay

Here is a link to our lists for Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins.
15 words 11948 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. emaciated
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    The face of the redheaded girl intertwines with gory images from earlier Hunger Games, with my mother withdrawn and unreachable, with Prim emaciated and terrified.
  2. demean
    reduce in worth or character, usually verbally
    I hear Peeta's voice in my head. She has no idea. The effect she can have. Obviously meant to demean me. Right? But a tiny part of me wonders if this was a compliment.
  3. leniency
    mercifulness as a consequence of being tolerant
    I should have stayed and apologized. Or laughed, like it was a big joke. Then maybe I would have found some leniency.
  4. arduous
    difficult to accomplish
    But also in the littler things, having a partner lightened the load, could even make the arduous task of filling my family's table enjoyable.
  5. pungent
    strong and sharp to the sense of taste or smell
    It was a Sunday in October, the air cool and pungent with dying things.
  6. afield
    far away from home or one's usual surroundings
    Having strayed farther afield than usual, I was hurrying back home, lugging my burlap sacks when I came across a dead rabbit.
  7. ludicrous
    inviting ridicule
    Betrayal. That's the first thing I feel, which is ludicrous.
  8. banal
    repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
    Effie makes me say a hundred banal phrases starting with a smile, while smiling, or ending with a smile.
  9. elusive
    skillful at evading capture
    Everyone seems to be playing up some angle. The monstrous boy from District 2 is a ruthless killing machine. The fox-faced girl from District 5 sly and elusive.
  10. gossamer
    a gauze fabric with an extremely fine texture
    Rue, who is dressed in a gossamer gown complete with wings, flutters her way to Caesar.
  11. tremulous
    quivering as from weakness or fear
    "I'm very hard to catch," she says in a tremulous voice.
  12. banter
    light teasing repartee
    He ignores Caesar's attempts at banter and answers with a yes or no or just remains silent.
  13. patronizing
    characteristic of those who treat others with arrogance
    It's like a slap in the face. His use of Haymitch's patronizing endearment.
  14. arbitrary
    based on or subject to individual discretion or preference
    Haymitch's directive to immediately find water was not arbitrary.
  15. gall
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    And Peeta had the gall to talk to me about disgrace?
Created on Thu May 17 16:57:49 EDT 2018 (updated Mon Aug 04 11:17:52 EDT 2025)

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.