Only This Beautiful Moment: List 1

by Abdi Nazemian
Three generations of Jafarzadeh men (Babak, Saeed, and Mahmoud), while sharing stories from their teenage years in Tehran and Los Angeles, discover they have more in common than just their Iranian blood.

This list covers pages 1–64 in the 2023 Blazer + Bray edition.

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

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. evasion
    a statement that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth
    I guess, given my dad’s history of emotional evasion, I shouldn’t have been surprised that he hid my grandfather’s cancer from me until the very last minute.
  2. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    “We don’t buy music anymore, so we’ve forced our favorite musicians into creating makeup lines and perfumes, which then distracts them from doing the exact thing we want them to do, which is make more music!”
    “I mean!” Sonia says, incredulous. “No one is holding them hostage and telling them to become a brand.”
  3. bristle
    react in an offended or angry manner
    A small piece of me bristles at the word hostage, which always reminds me of the Iran hostage crisis.
  4. implication
    a meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred
    And our listeners know how I feel about the word real, and the implication that anything in this world is fake.
  5. artifice
    the use of deception or trickery
    Everything is authentic, especially artifice.
  6. appropriation
    a deliberate act of acquisition, often without permission
    “Anyway, maybe it’s a good thing your favorite singers aren’t making as much music as they used to. Less opportunities for them to enjoy a little cultural appropriation.”
  7. strident
    unpleasantly loud and harsh
    A strident voice fills the room.
  8. regime
    the governing authority of a political unit
    You’re defending a regime that wants you dead.
  9. repress
    block the action of
    I feel Shane stop himself from asking why I waited until the last minute to tell him. He’s not very good at repressing his urges, and I feel a wave of gratitude to him for doing it just this once.
  10. sanction
    the act of punishing
    “The worst they’ll do if they open your suitcase is tax you. They don’t care about sanctions and morals, just money.”
  11. curtly
    in an abrupt and discourteous manner
    “We’ll be there soon, Baba,” Dad says curtly, before ending the conversation.
  12. pacify
    ease the anger, agitation, or strong emotion of
    “You’ve always agreed with me just to pacify me.”
  13. rueful
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
    “I’m done for,” I say with a rueful smile.
  14. impish
    naughtily or annoyingly playful
    He removes four chips off his side of the board with an impish grin.
  15. uncanny
    surpassing the ordinary or normal
    But unlike me, he has an uncanny ability to balance school, protests, and nightclubbing without ever losing his focus.
  16. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
    He snaps out of his reverie and continues to the front door to greet his student.
  17. discomfit
    cause to lose one's composure
    Maman looks me in the eye with discomfiting tenderness.
  18. entranced
    filled with wonder and delight
    I’m entranced by her, until she drops her hair tie as she fixes her ponytail.
  19. chastise
    scold or criticize severely
    Peyman introduces me to his soccer friends, and then I chastise him as we walk toward the square. “You just pulled me away from the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met,” I say.
  20. compel
    force somebody to do something
    The energy of our fellow protesters compels us forward.
  21. emulate
    strive to equal or match, especially by imitating
    I know she has fire in her eyes and wears her hair in a simple ponytail, avoiding the elaborate European hairstyles so many young Iranian girls seem to emulate these days.
  22. shah
    title for the former hereditary monarch of Iran
    We hear the horns of cars in support of the chants of “Independence” and “Freedom.” And also shouts of, “The Shah is a traitor! Death to the Shah!”
  23. fleeting
    lasting for a markedly brief time
    The next day, in between classes, I tell Peyman everything about my fleeting moments with Shirin.
  24. utterly
    completely and without qualification
    “My best friend. So smart when it comes to engineering and calculus. So utterly stupid when it comes to women.”
  25. ideal
    conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection
    “Given what happened, have you considered that perhaps a political protest is not the ideal location for the start of a romance? Next time, I recommend talking to her in a place where you won’t be interrupted by the army.”
  26. strew
    spread by scattering
    Baba and Maman peek in and find all my clothes strewn around my bedroom.
  27. wistfully
    in a pensively sad manner
    “And...what’s your favorite city?” I ask.
    She smiles wistfully. “Tehran.”
  28. scour
    examine minutely
    Will I spend the rest of my life scouring protests and discotheques for her?
  29. threshold
    the entrance for passing through a room or building
    He stands at the threshold of my room.
  30. tentatively
    in a hesitant manner
    “Baba?” I ask tentatively. “Did you know you loved Maman as soon as you met, or did it take time?”
  31. covert
    secret or hidden
    This is a game I play with myself, finding covert ways to speak my feelings for Vicente out loud.
  32. deuce
    tie requiring winning two successive points to win the game
    “Keep arguing with me, Vinnie, and you’ll lose another point and get to deuce.”
  33. convey
    transmit or serve as the medium for transmission
    He looks at me, and I try to convey all the support I can from across the court.
  34. nonchalantly
    in a composed and unconcerned manner
    “Sure,” he says nonchalantly.
  35. superfluous
    more than is needed, desired, or required
    You need to stop saying ‘first of all’ so much. Don’t use superfluous language. If it’s the first thing you’re saying, then ‘first of all’ is implied.
  36. eloquent
    expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively
    You’ll be interviewed soon. Magazines will want to speak with you. You need to be eloquent.
  37. poised
    in full control of your faculties
    “Honestly, Bobby. How you’re so poised at the piano, and so...unpoised the rest of the time… Well, it’s a mystery to me.”
  38. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    She follows my gaze to Crawford, who bikes past us, hair billowing in the wind, the sun hitting freckles that I never knew she had.
  39. machination
    a crafty and involved plot to achieve your ends
    “I bribed that dry cleaner into convincing Ida Koverman to see our show.”
    I turn to Mother. I could care less about her machinations.
  40. underscore
    give extra weight to
    As I place my shoes neatly next to hers, I hear those pat-pat-pat footsteps and the yap-yap-yap that underscores all my entrances.
Created on Wed Mar 27 08:44:12 EDT 2024 (updated Mon Apr 01 15:43:46 EDT 2024)

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