The 47 People You'll Meet in Middle School: Chapters 10–19

by Kristin Mahoney
To help her little sister prepare for middle school, Augusta recounts the many friendly, snobby, hilarious, and strange people she's encountered since starting sixth grade.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–9, Chapters 10–19, Chapters 20–30, Chapters 31–48
25 words 36 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. obsession
    an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something
    “Okaaay,” I said again. “Amber, do you have a crush on Nick?”
    “A crush?” She sighed. “More like an obsession. But you can’t tell anyone.”
  2. inclination
    a characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition
    We had been warned during our puberty talk with the school nurse at Starling last year that girls generally mature more quickly than boys, and that girls might start showing “romantic inclinations” sooner.
  3. disinterested
    unaffected by concern for one's own welfare
    “Oh, you’re leaving?” Amber’s tone was surprisingly disinterested, considering she had been frantic for me to sit with her five minutes ago. She was still looking at Nick.
  4. hormone
    the secretion of an endocrine gland transmitted by the blood
    “Yeah,” she said. “Did you finish your lunch already?”
    “Sort of.” I didn’t feel like explaining why Amber and her crazed hormones had made me lose my appetite after two bites of nachos.
  5. trellis
    latticework used to support climbing plants
    The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, and long strands of ivy trailed over the pathways. But I could tell it had been cared for once: honeysuckle flowers grew on a trellis on the opposite side, and a gold plaque on the wall near us read IN LOVING MEMORY OF MRS. JACKIE SISTRUNK.
  6. plaque
    a tablet that commemorates a person or achievement
    The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, and long strands of ivy trailed over the pathways. But I could tell it had been cared for once: honeysuckle flowers grew on a trellis on the opposite side, and a gold plaque on the wall near us read IN LOVING MEMORY OF MRS. JACKIE SISTRUNK.
  7. asymmetrical
    characterized by an imbalance in spatial arrangement
    She was all kinds of asymmetrical: her blouse was only partly tucked in, and half of her skirt hem was coming apart.
  8. implication
    a meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred
    Ms. Barakat said yes to all these. (But she did add, “Although I hope you’ll give careful consideration to the implications of what you’re hoping for,” when she answered Eric.)
  9. elective
    a course that the student can select from among alternatives
    So I was stuck with gym as my elective.
  10. blatantly
    in a completely obvious manner
    And this time, she was blatantly asking for my combination.
  11. gripe
    complain
    At Starling Elementary, whenever we had a theme dress-up day (you know, Pajama Day, Funny Hat Day, School Colors Day), she would always gripe about it on the way home from school the day before.
  12. undeniable
    not possible to contradict
    They’re both about a block away from Parkwood. And they are undeniably way better lunch spots than the overgrown courtyard at Meridian.
  13. envy
    a desire to have something that is possessed by another
    “Well, that’s amazing,” I said.
    “Right?!” Layla was hiding her excitement about as well as I was hiding my envy.
  14. proactive
    causing something to happen rather than waiting to respond
    "Anyway, you need to be proactive.”
    “What do you mean, ‘proactive’?”
    “Take charge. Tell them you’ll help pay for the contacts.”
  15. pediatric
    of or relating to the medical care of children
    Mom was wearing her scrubs with Sesame Street characters on them, which meant she had worked in the pediatric ward that day. It also meant she was probably in a good mood, because the maternity and pediatric wards are her favorites.
  16. maternity
    the state of being pregnant
    Mom was wearing her scrubs with Sesame Street characters on them, which meant she had worked in the pediatric ward that day. It also meant she was probably in a good mood, because the maternity and pediatric wards are her favorites.
  17. infestation
    the state of being invaded or overrun by parasites
    I was grossed out, as anyone is when finding out about a lice infestation, but I tried to stay positive.
  18. grimace
    contort the face to indicate a certain mental state
    It was probably good she couldn’t see me, because I was grimacing as I raked through her hair, afraid that bugs would pop out from behind every strand.
  19. good egg
    (old-fashioned slang) a good person
    She sat up and sighed. “Thanks, Gus. You’re a good egg. No pun intended.” She reached up and tousled my hair (and I could tell she was giving it another quick once-over to see if anything was crawling in it).
  20. tousle
    disarrange or rumple; dishevel
    She sat up and sighed. “Thanks, Gus. You’re a good egg. No pun intended.” She reached up and tousled my hair (and I could tell she was giving it another quick once-over to see if anything was crawling in it).
  21. cocky
    overly self-confident or self-assertive
    But for some reason, I didn’t care. I was too excited about the idea of winning twenty dollars toward my contact-lens fund. And Gabe was being seriously cocky; beating him would be a nice side benefit.
  22. rummage
    search haphazardly
    Kids started rummaging through their own backpacks looking for dollar bills and loose change.
  23. gable
    the triangular wall between the sloping ends of a roof
    Heidi gave Quincy a long, suspicious look before leaning back in her seat and returning to her book, Anne of Green Gables.
  24. ponder
    reflect deeply on a subject
    These were the thoughts I was pondering when I heard someone coming down the hall.
  25. impending
    close in time; about to occur
    With watering eyes, runny nose, and the light-headed feeling I always get from impending doom, I turned to see Mr. Smeed two feet away, approaching from the other direction.
Created on Tue Dec 21 21:08:17 EST 2021 (updated Mon Jan 03 16:50:43 EST 2022)

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.