Beauty Queens: Chapters 18–29

by Libba Bray
When their plane crashes on a desert island, the fifty contestants of the Miss Teen Dream Pageant learn what it takes to survive the toughest challenge. Learn these words from Libba Bray's hilarious social satire.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Chapter 9, Chapters 10–17, Chapters 18–29, Chapter 30–Epilogue
40 words 24 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. hone
    refine or make more perfect or effective
    Taylor’s instincts, honed during countless pageants when the one who claimed to be sweet was the one to put Nair in your shampoo, came crawling up her spine and into her cortex.
  2. primp
    dress or groom with elaborate care
    The world expected girls to pluck and primp and put on heels.
  3. volatile
    liable to lead to sudden change or violence
    “It’s a volatile compound. An explosive. The less handling, the better.”
  4. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    Aviators man’s face remained stoic.
  5. deftly
    in an agile manner
    He grabbed for the beauty queen, and she deftly elbowed him in the gut.
  6. coup
    a sudden and decisive change of government by force
    Before he’d settled into the corporate life of privatized security, the agent had initiated coups in third world countries.
  7. aesthetician
    a worker skilled in giving beauty treatments
    And our trained aestheticians can help you identify parts of yourself you didn’t even know could be improved.
  8. disconcerting
    causing an emotional disturbance
    Sometimes the unicorns spoke to her, and that was a little disconcerting.
  9. resplendent
    having great beauty
    Through the haze of tears she saw her mother, resplendent in a bright yellow evening gown and surrounded by a silvery glow.
  10. resolute
    firm in purpose or belief
    The girls responded with awwws and pouts, but Nicole was resolute and Ahmed flashed a bright smile and promised everything would be just fine before shutting the thatched door.
  11. parlay
    stake winnings from one bet on a subsequent wager
    “What — you don’t believe in true love?” Petra asked. “The kind that can then be parlayed into awesome merchandising opportunities?”
  12. revelry
    unrestrained merrymaking
    “Sorry. Erm, it’s not just broken. It’s smashed to bits. Drunken revelry,” Sinjin explained.
  13. warily
    in a manner marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
    “Nice to meet you, Adina.” He stuck out his hand and Adina shook it warily before turning her attentions to the tangled fishing lines.
  14. virtuoso
    someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
    “Well, I don’t like to brag, but I am a virtuoso at the spoons.”
  15. sheepish
    showing a sense of shame
    The pirate’s smile was sheepish. “Dunno. Not really tool savvy.
  16. summon
    ask to come
    As if summoned, Taylor walked past, a finger pressed to her lips like a preschool teacher motioning for quiet.
  17. dirigible
    a steerable self-propelled aircraft
    “Bloke got stung by a jellyfish and his whole leg swelled up like a dirigible. They had to cut his leg clean off to save him.”
  18. cliche
    a trite or obvious remark
    “Don’t do that, Harris. It’s cliche.”
  19. furtively
    in a secretive manner
    Sinjin glanced furtively at Petra.
  20. disclosure
    the act of making something evident
    “Me?” Sinjin thought for a moment. He wasn’t good with disclosure. And he had nothing to compare to Petra’s tale.
  21. impassive
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
    Sinjin glanced at Petra’s impassive expression.
  22. deadpan
    deliberately impassive in manner
    Sosie did a wild Watusi in the sand while Jennifer stood next to her pointing one finger up and down in a deadpan disco.
  23. sarcasm
    witty language used to convey insults or scorn
    “Every time he calls me love, an angel gets its wings.” Petra’s sarcasm was unmistakable, and Sinjin seemed to enjoy it.
  24. ruefully
    in a manner expressing pain or sorrow
    “It’s always about whatever’s next,” Petra said ruefully.
  25. stifle
    smother or suppress
    Adina stifled a burp and made a face.
  26. umbrage
    a feeling of anger caused by being offended
    “I take umbrage at that, sir! I am not drunk.”
  27. deify
    consider as a god or godlike
    It is said that the moon is very powerful. It influences tides and weather. It has been worshipped and deified.
  28. ingenue
    an artless innocent young girl
    It was such an ingenue thing to say, and Adina had never played that role.
  29. cudgel
    a club that is used as a weapon
    To let the world shape your desire and love into a cudgel with which to drive you back into a cave of fear.
  30. sate
    fill to contentment
    Then she took her place at the fire and drank the rest of Duff's coconut milk, drinking till she was sated.
  31. epiphany
    a usually sudden insight, perception, or understanding of something
    I kept thinking, what’s wrong with me? And then I had an epiphany: Maybe it’s not me who’s screwed up.
  32. boorish
    ill-mannered and coarse in behavior or appearance
    An attractive but boorish man sits sprawled on the sofa, his shirt untucked, a beer in his hand.
  33. hoist
    raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help
    One wrong step and that person would be hoisted high into the trees to dangle by a foot until they passed out or Taylor felt merciful, whichever came first.
  34. overt
    open and observable; not secret or hidden
    Taylor nodded, but secretly she worried that the judges wouldn’t like this. It seemed a little overt.
  35. atrocity
    an act of shocking cruelty
    MoMo’s already racked up a pretty impressive list of atrocities.
  36. nostalgic
    unhappy about being away and longing for familiar things
    It almost made him nostalgic for the Cold War.
  37. dodgy
    of uncertain outcome; especially fraught with risk
    “Lads, something’s a bit dodgy here. That black shirt couldn’t be a coincidence. He must’ve followed us here.”
  38. hermitage
    the abode of a recluse
    It was like a forgotten hermitage — the cave hidden beneath the growth, the strange fertility goddess statue of Our Ladybird with her tattered Miss Miss sash in place.
  39. intuition
    instinctive knowing, without the use of rational processes
    Something scratched at the door of Adina’s subconscious, wanting to get in. Female intuition, her stepfather would say.
  40. rapture
    a state of elated bliss
    For a moment, Mary Lou was forgotten as the girls fell into raptures about the simple pleasure of a real shower.
Created on Wed Jan 06 16:45:25 EST 2016 (updated Mon Sep 17 16:43:25 EDT 2018)

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