Inkheart: Chapters 6-16

by Cornelia Funke
Mo has the power to bring characters from books into the real world; but when one of those characters kidnaps Mo, his daughter Meggie must embrace her own magical powers in order to rescue her father.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1-5, Chapters 6-16, Chapters 17-23, Chapters 24-45, Chapters 46-59

Here is a link to our lists for The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. deign
    do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
    Elinor didn’t even deign to reply to this suggestion.
  2. spoilsport
    someone who ruins the pleasure of others
    “Oh, very well. I don't want to be a spoilsport," she said.
  3. cheeky
    offensively bold
    “Yes, I’m sure I was. And she was always as cheeky as you, too! Have fun with your fire-eater!”
  4. boisterous
    noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
    It filled the night air as if it had been only waiting for Meggie's footsteps: strange music, a carnival mixture of bells, pipes, and drums, both boisterous and sad.
  5. troupe
    an organization of performers and associated personnel
    Meggie wouldn’t have been surprised to find a whole troupe of fairground entertainers waiting for her on the lawn behind Elinor’s house, but only Dustfinger stood there.
  6. exuberant
    joyously unrestrained
    But he just spun around and around on the spot, exuberant as a dancing child, breathing out more fire.
  7. wrought
    shaped to fit by altering the contours of a pliable mass
    She ran on and on, limping and sobbing, until she had reached the big wrought iron gate.
  8. proverb
    a condensed but memorable saying embodying an important fact
    A thousand enemies outside the house are better than one within.
    Arab proverb
  9. forsake
    leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
    All her strength seemed to have forsaken her, as if the next gust of wind might blow her away.
  10. ignominious
    deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
    How ignominious to be strapped to this ponderous mass of paper, print and dead man's sentiment.
  11. ponderous
    having great mass and weight and unwieldiness
    How ignominious to be strapped to this ponderous mass of paper, print and dead man's sentiment.
  12. badger
    annoy persistently
    All he told me was that some crazy collector had been badgering him for that book for years. How was I to know this collector wouldn't shrink from breaking and entering, not to mention kidnapping?
  13. scornful
    expressing extreme contempt
    Of course she can’t admit she never thought of that, Meggie told herself scornfully.
  14. aback
    by surprise
    “Put that book down!" she snapped at him. “Meggie, take the book away from him."
    Taken aback, Meggie turned around.
  15. guileless
    innocent and free of deceit
    “We certainly might!" muttered Dustfinger, smiling guilelessly at Elinor.
  16. dismal
    causing dejection
    “Oh dear, don't look so dismal!" Elinor had said, looking at her with concern.
  17. petrify
    change into stone
    “But to the last question,” Zelig replied, “he probably flew to beyond the Dark Regions, where people don’t go and cattle don’t stray, where the sky is copper, the earth iron, and where the evil forces live under roofs of petrified toadstools and in tunnels abandoned by moles.”
  18. encroach
    impinge or infringe upon
    It warmed Meggie’s heart just to see it, but all too often it disappeared behind the tall, ugly buildings covering the narrow strip of land that lay between the water and the encroaching hills.
  19. hovel
    small crude shelter used as a dwelling
    No princes had lived in those wretched hovels, no red-robed bishops, only farmers and laborers whose stories no one had written down, and now they were lost, buried under wild thyme and fast-growing spurge.
  20. arson
    malicious burning to destroy property
    "But you wanted to know about the stories. They say no bullet can kill the men who live in that village, they can walk through walls, that they kidnap three boys every month when the moon is new, and Capricorn teaches them to commit theft, arson, and murder.”
  21. impassable
    incapable of being gone across or through
    “A single well-armed man is enough to make it impassable. But luckily he doesn’t post a guard here every night."
  22. curt
    brief and to the point
    “I prefer adventures in the sunlight,” replied Elinor curtly.
  23. skulk
    move stealthily
    “Do you have to frighten us to death? A person could easily get run over, skulking around in the dark like that."
  24. civility
    the act of showing regard for others
    "We've had a strenuous drive, and we only came to this godforsaken spot to bring your boss or whatever you call him something he's been wanting for a long time. So let's have a little more civility."
  25. aura
    distinctive but intangible quality around a person or thing
    He had an aura of fury about him, of something keen and biting—
    "Meggie, get the bag out of the trunk."
  26. sultry
    characterized by oppressive heat and humidity
    It was a hot, sultry night. The sky above the black hills was sprinkled with stars.
  27. derelict
    in deplorable condition
    The church with the tower they had seen from a distance stood on one side of the square, and not far away, divided from it by a narrow hallway, there was a large two-story house, which did not look at all derelict.
  28. gaunt
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    Capricorn was a tall man, and gaunt, as if the skin had been stretched too tight over his bones.
  29. parchment
    skin of a sheep or goat prepared for writing on
    His skin was pale as parchment, his hair cut short and bristly.
  30. bristly
    having or covered with protective barbs or spines
    His skin was pale as parchment, his hair cut short and bristly.
  31. undaunted
    resolutely courageous
    She did her best not to flinch, to look firmly and undaunted into those colorless eyes, but fear constricted her throat.
  32. farfetched
    highly imaginative but unlikely
    ...I feel as if I’ve fallen into some farfetched adventure story where the villains wear black eye patches and throw knives.
  33. indignant
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    “How could I let them?” Elinor’s indignant voice almost cracked.
  34. bugaboo
    an imaginary monster used to frighten children
    Your mother liked goblins as well: hobgoblins, bugaboos, the Fenoderee, the folletti with their butterfly wings, she knew them all.
  35. brandish
    exhibit aggressively
    There were several breakages because I was brandishing the sword so clumsily.
  36. furtive
    marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
    I was just packing the tools in my workshop when there was a knock on the front door, a very soft, almost furtive knock.
  37. indispensable
    absolutely necessary
    “Basta told me about the man, probably to show me I’m not by any means indispensable. Apparently, he’s read several useful assistants for Capricorn out of a book already."
  38. exploit
    a notable achievement
    All she knew was Mo's other stories, about the fabulous exploits that had kept her mother away, tales of the adventures she was having in distant lands, of fearsome enemies who kept preventing her from coming home, and of a box she was filling for Meggie, putting something new and wonderful in it at every enchanted place she visited.
  39. plumage
    the covering of feathers on a bird
    It had been emerald green, like the plumage of Dr. Dolittle’s parrot Polynesia.
  40. careworn
    showing the effects of overwork or suffering
    Mo laughed quietly, and for a moment his face didn’t look quite so careworn.
Created on Tue May 29 17:04:53 EDT 2018 (updated Tue Jun 05 10:40:59 EDT 2018)

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