Circus Mirandus: Chapters 8–13

by Cassie Beasley
Ten-year-old Micah Tuttle, with the help of his friend Jenny Mendoza, tries to find and enter a magical circus to convince the Lightbender to save his dying grandfather.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–13, Chapters 14–18, Chapters 19–24, Chapters 25–36
40 words 5 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. garbled
    lacking orderly continuity
    He could hear his classmates talking just feet away, their voices garbled through the door.
  2. embellish
    add details to
    “Your grandfather...maybe he just embellished the real story. Maybe there really was a circus, and it was special to him. That’s why he wrote the letter. Now that he’s sick, he’s trying to find the circus again.”
  3. demented
    affected with madness or insanity
    I come here to help my demented brother and you, you ungrateful little boy, and this is how you behave? Like some kind of barbarian!
  4. teeter
    move unsteadily, with a rocking motion
    It slowed down until it almost wasn’t moving, teetered on the edge for a moment, then fell.
  5. wince
    make a face indicating disgust or dislike
    She held up a loopy mess of a knot.
    Micah winced.
  6. embroidery
    decorative needlework
    She handed him a fresh strand of brown embroidery floss, and after a brief glance at the picture of the knot she had chosen, he started to tie.
  7. rickety
    inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
    To reach his beach, Ephraim usually walked straight through town, past some tired old hotels and rickety apartments.
  8. conjure
    summon into action or bring into existence
    But as he followed the sound of pipes and drums over the final dune, he saw that town was a good deal farther away than it ought to have been, as though it had been conjured to a new location over the course of the morning.
  9. haphazard
    dependent upon or characterized by chance
    Large round tents with pointed tops were scattered in a haphazard circle in the middle of the green.
  10. ebony
    a very dark black
    Each tent was a different color of satiny cloth, and each had a different pattern stitched into it. Ephraim saw silver stars on a sapphire background and golden suns on ebony and thick crimson lines striping chocolate brown.
  11. monocle
    lens for correcting defective vision in one eye
    The man took his monocle off his eye, rubbed it on his sleeve, then put it back on the other eye.
  12. barter
    exchange goods without involving money
    “Sorry. I’m not authorized for barterin’.”
  13. inspiration
    a sudden intuition as part of solving a problem
    Inspiration bit Ephraim. “I’ve got a fish,” he said. “Will that work?”
  14. intrigue
    cause to be interested or curious
    Slowly, inevitably, he made his way toward the only place in the circus that intrigued him more than the Bird Woman’s.
  15. lethal
    of an instrument of certain death
    “The Man Who Bends Light is practicing a new routine,” the Strongman had said in a clipped British accent when Ephraim asked why he wasn’t allowed inside. “Interruptions could be lethal.”
  16. tentative
    hesitant or lacking confidence; unsettled in mind or opinion
    The girl took a tentative step.
    “Awww...don’t be chicken,” said the boy.
  17. jostle
    come into rough contact with while moving
    The children around Ephraim jostled him as the line moved forward.
  18. municipal
    relating to a self-governing district
    Chintzy had not enjoyed her time as a tourist in the Peal municipal sewer system.
  19. appalling
    causing shock, dismay, or horror
    In fact, she was in an appallingly bad temper.
  20. buzzard
    a vulture common in South America and the southern U.S.
    She looked like a week-old buzzard chick, and she smelled like a week-dead old buzzard.
  21. mangy
    affected with a skin disease causing itching and hair loss
    A filthy, mangy-looking bird was fluttering in front of the window.
  22. evasive
    avoiding or escaping from difficulty or danger
    Evasive maneuvers. Normal bird behavior is a go!
  23. maneuver
    an action aimed at evading an opponent
    Evasive maneuvers. Normal bird behavior is a go!
  24. tweak
    pinch or squeeze sharply
    His fingers were moving over the knot almost without his permission. They were tweaking here and tugging there.
  25. flail
    thrash about
    She was a bulky, flailing shape on the floor.
  26. liberate
    grant freedom to; free from confinement
    Micah, who had almost managed to liberate Jenny’s left braid, paused to sniff.
  27. inclined
    having a preference, disposition, or tendency
    Chintzy didn’t apologize, but at least she didn’t seem inclined to continue the fight.
  28. warily
    in a manner marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
    She eyed his hands warily, and he shoved them under his armpits to prove that he didn’t mean to grab her without her permission.
  29. recipient
    a person to whom something is sent, given, or awarded
    And I don’t think I should talk about it with you before I’ve done my messengerly duties. Seeing as you’re neither sender nor recipient.
  30. dingy
    thickly covered with ingrained dirt or soot
    She held a dustpan full of dingy red feathers at arm’s length, as if they were contagious, and tipped them outside.
  31. spindly
    long, thin, and often weak or fragile
    The leaves hung limp from the branches of the spindly trees in front of the school.
  32. wisp
    a thin tuft, piece, or amount of something
    A wisp of cloud sat frozen overhead.
  33. grimace
    contort the face to indicate a certain mental state
    But Florence stepped into the room a moment later and grimaced when she saw her name at the very bottom of the board.
  34. mull
    reflect deeply on a subject
    He mulled over his conversation with Chintzy, trying to figure out whether Jenny might have been right last night.
  35. elaborate
    marked by complexity and richness of detail
    The multicolored knots made a bright, elaborate fan against the white background, and though Micah suspected that his classmates wouldn’t be able to, he could read the quipu from here without even touching the knots.
  36. inevitably
    in such a manner as could not be otherwise
    He examined it for a while, trying to feel happy about it, but his eyes were inevitably pulled toward the classroom window.
  37. disheartened
    made less hopeful or enthusiastic
    “What’s wrong?” she mouthed.
    Micah shook his head. Disheartened, he stared down at his notebook.
  38. riveting
    capable of arousing and holding the attention
    Micah had the feeling that this should have been riveting, but he couldn’t quite make himself care enough to take notes.
  39. unravel
    become undone
    The sketch of the spoon unraveled, every line Micah had scrawled coming apart from every other and flowing into a new shape before his eyes.
  40. gale
    a strong wind moving 34–40 knots
    Leaves and twigs and old gum wrappers zipped past, caught up in a gale of wind that might have come straight out of Grandpa Ephraim’s story.
Created on Mon Oct 31 21:26:29 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Sep 08 13:28:08 EDT 2023)

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.