A Monster Calls: "A Monster Calls"–"The Wildness of Stories"

by Patrick Ness
As Conor struggles to deal with his mother's terminal illness, he encounters a monster who demands that Conor tell him a truthful story.

This list covers A Monster Calls–The Wildness of Stories.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4

Here is a link to our lists for The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.
15 words 2757 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. yew
    evergreen tree or shrub having red cup-shaped berries
    Conor could also see the great yew tree that rose from the center of the graveyard, a tree so ancient it almost seemed to be made of the same stone as the church.
  2. rucksack
    a bag carried by a strap on your back or shoulder
    He was already in his school uniform, his rucksack packed for the day and waiting by the front door.
  3. settee
    a small sofa
    Conor had to sleep on the settee every time his grandmother came to stay.
  4. crony
    a close friend or associate
    Harry and his cronies would have been thrilled beyond words if they knew Conor was bleeding.
  5. detached
    showing lack of emotional involvement
    Harry had started noticing Conor, catching his eye, looking at him with a detached amusement.
  6. genuinely
    in accordance with truth or fact or reality
    Anton and Sully seemed worried, but Harry just stared back at him, unruffled and calm, like he was genuinely curious as to what Conor might say.
  7. duvet
    a soft quilt usually filled with down
    Conor hated the program but he made sure it recorded for her, then he spread a duvet over her and went and did the dishes.
  8. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    It raised a gnarled woody fist to punch through the wall of Conor’s bedroom.
  9. silhouette
    represent by a drawing of the outline of an object
    “It’s only a dream,” Conor said to himself in the backyard, looking up at the monster silhouetted against the moon in the night sky.
  10. wiry
    lean but strong
    He could see, too, the power in the monster’s arms, great wiry ropes of branches constantly twisting and shifting together in what must have been tree muscle, connected to a massive trunk of a chest, topped by a head and teeth that could chomp him down in one bite.
  11. encompass
    include in scope
    A sudden, hard wind swirled up around them, and the monster spread its arms out wide, so wide they seemed to reach to opposite horizons, so wide they seemed big enough to encompass the world.
  12. vaguely
    in an unclear way
    Feeling vaguely angry, Conor got up and went into the kitchen.
  13. quizzically
    in a questioning manner
    The monster looked at him quizzically. How strange, it said.
  14. havoc
    violent and needless disturbance
    Stories are wild creatures, the monster said. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak?
  15. wreak
    cause to happen or to occur as a consequence
    Stories are wild creatures, the monster said. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak?
Created on Tue Jan 15 09:14:13 EST 2019 (updated Fri Jul 18 10:37:10 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.