Sadie: List 3

by Courtney Summers
After her sister is murdered, 19-year-old Sadie is determined to track down the killer. In the meantime, a popular podcast focuses on Sadie herself.

This list covers pages 109–196 in the 2018 Wednesday Books edition.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
40 words 15 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. wisp
    a small person
    And she was rail thin, a wisp of a thing, not much to her.
  2. frustrating
    discouraging by hindering
    I slip into the bathroom and sink-wash myself in frustrating stop-starts as women filter in and out.
  3. dainty
    affectedly refined
    If this were a normal situation, I wonder if I’d try to be delicate about it, if I’d pretend to be a girl with a dainty appetite, or more appealing, none at all.
  4. laden
    filled with a great quantity
    I tell him I want their protein snack box and their most calorie-laden smoothie in its largest size and he can’t mask the surprise on his face, but he recovers quickly and makes the order.
  5. din
    a loud, harsh, or strident noise
    Javi gives me a small smile and I hear his voice, last night, over the din in the bar: Their dad was my T-ball coach.
  6. chaise longue
    a long chair for reclining
    Their pool is inground, long, wide and deep with a diving board. There are four chaise longues, two on either side, fancy metal tables between them.
  7. lush
    produced or growing in extreme abundance
    The backyard is lush; the grass is jewel green with thriving vegetable and flower gardens taking up opposite sides.
  8. resplendent
    having great beauty
    Kendall is resplendent in a tiny red bikini, sunning herself on a soft monogrammed towel.
  9. languid
    lacking spirit or liveliness
    Kendall stretches languidly, arms over her head, toes pointing to nothing.
  10. stark
    severely simple
    Inside, it’s incredibly stark, monochromatic. The family photos on the wall are professionally shot, black-and-white, all of them taken next to the flower beds outside.
  11. monochromatic
    having or appearing to have only one color
    Inside, it’s incredibly stark, monochromatic. The family photos on the wall are professionally shot, black-and-white, all of them taken next to the flower beds outside.
  12. lithe
    moving and bending with ease
    I study each one as I pass, following Noah’s and Kendall’s progression from babies to toddlers to awkward tweens, to now.Their mother, a lithe blond with curly hair that keeps getting shorter.
  13. imperceptible
    impossible or difficult to sense
    Silas reacts to my stutter, a near imperceptible grimace.
  14. peal
    a deep prolonged sound
    A peal of laughter floats upstairs.
  15. vanity
    low table with a mirror where one sits while dressing
    There’s a vanity in one corner of the room, and a mahogany desk with a laptop on it in the other.
  16. slink
    move or walk stealthily
    I slink out of the bedroom, go into the bathroom and flush the toilet before I make my way downstairs.
  17. boon
    something that is desirable, favorable, or beneficial
    It’s a real boon to Montgomery, having your parents in the community.
  18. labored
    requiring or showing effort
    The only sound I can hear is his labored breathing.
  19. pretense
    the act of giving a false appearance
    What little pretense left between us disappears.
  20. halting
    limping; not able to walk steadily or properly
    I take halting, dazed steps to the car.
  21. default
    an option that is selected automatically
    My mother wasted was the default.
  22. sobriety
    the state of being unaffected or not intoxicated by alcohol
    Her sobriety was like a punch in the stomach in the rare event I witnessed it.
  23. gauge
    an instrument for measuring and indicating a quantity
    I glance at the gas gauge. Half empty.
  24. elements
    violent or severe weather
    She’s wearing a jacket with a hood that’s done little to protect her from the elements.
  25. lull
    make calm or still
    It goes quiet while she scribbles. The scratch of the pen and her breathing lulls me into that hazy space again.
  26. hydroplane
    glide or skim over the surface of the water
    The sky is almost black now. I’m just thinking how maybe we should pull over when the Chevy starts hydroplaning.
  27. ingrate
    a person who shows no thankfulness or appreciation
    “She w-was an ingrate, actually,” I say.
  28. throttle
    kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air
    And I wanted to throttle her because I loved her that much, but I just smiled at her and I asked her, "Where're you off to today, Mats?" like I always did and she said, "Everywhere," like she always did.
  29. forthcoming
    easygoing and open when speaking or sharing information
    Sadie might not have been the most forthcoming girl, but it was clear she was upset about something.
  30. prone
    lying face downward
    I dream of small, broken bodies.
    Prone and hurt, catalogued and kept sacred in dark spaces.
  31. percolate
    prepare in a coffeepot in which boiling water ascends
    I pick up a plastic spoon at the coffee counter where I contemplate a seventy-five-cent coffee from an old metal percolator and decide that money’s better spent on food.
  32. allusion
    passing reference or indirect mention
    That was when she was around to share status updates with not-so-subtle allusions to personal unhappiness.
  33. unassuming
    not arrogant
    This is what Cat Mather looks like now: she's a white, twenty-three-year-old woman with a plain, unassuming face that almost belies the actions that have gotten her into this mess.
  34. belie
    represent falsely
    This is what Cat Mather looks like now: she's a white, twenty-three-year-old woman with a plain, unassuming face that almost belies the actions that have gotten her into this mess.
  35. estrange
    remove from customary environment or associations
    They've been estranged for a long time. Family problems. It's terrible. Cat disappeared when she was nineteen. I've been hoping this whole...unpleasantness would help them reconcile somehow, but it hasn't happened.
  36. alias
    a name that has been assumed temporarily
    She's been giving other people an alias, but she was up front with you when you met. She told you her real name.
  37. bask
    derive or receive pleasure from
    It's a beautiful, picturesque college town with a thriving economy, driven in large part by its student population and the wealthy baby boomers who want to live out their retirement basking in the glow of the young.
  38. articulate
    put into words or an expression
    It was hard to articulate to Danny, what I was feeling at the time.
  39. rapt
    feeling great delight and interest
    When I was around Paul, I’d watch, rapt, as the people he surrounded himself with led one-sided conversations without ever expecting anything in return.
  40. threadbare
    thin and tattered with age
    The carpet is a deep wine red with flecks of electric purple in it, fuzzy in some spots, threadbare in others.
Created on Wed May 29 10:46:19 EDT 2019 (updated Mon Jun 03 16:56:44 EDT 2019)

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