Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody: Chapters 16–25

by Patrick Ness
Three middle school monitor lizard hall monitors — with the help of a blind hawk — are all that stand in the way of the pelican supervillain school bully from taking over the school. Amidst much humor, heroes emerge, and good has the final victory.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–15, Chapters 16–25, Chapters 26–33
15 words 12 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. superhero
    an imaginary character with amazing powers for doing good
    “The power of truth and justice! That’s what came over you! You were a superhero back there!
  2. horrendous
    causing fear or dread or terror
    “What was I thinking?”
    “You were thinking you weren’t going to put up with someone being that horrendous to you, even if she was a teacher.”
  3. excruciating
    extremely painful
    ...that was going to be excruciating.
  4. implausible
    highly imaginative but unlikely
    It may seem implausible, but every word is true.
  5. mischievous
    naughtily or annoyingly playful
    Never let it be said the French couldn’t be mischievous.
  6. dismay
    the feeling of despair in the face of obstacles
    It was unclear who exactly had been cursed, the lizard or the French, but a permanent-seeming curse it turned out to be, to the dismay of both reptile and country.
  7. sexist
    discriminatory on the basis of gender roles
    Ever since then, it had passed down from generation to generation: the Svenssons, who became the Bronsteins, who became the Townsends, which was Zeke’s last name. France appeared on the knee of the eldest male child on the death of each father. Which, as previously stated, Zeke (and France) thought was 1) kind of sexist and 2) kind of crappy when Zeke was the youngest to have to host them in the entire line.
  8. genuine
    not pretended; sincerely felt or expressed
    To be fair, it had benefits. They were very funny, the French. The cheese was excellent. And they seemed to have genuine affection for their host. Being on a lizard’s knee had become a tradition as much as Bastille Day.
  9. observant
    quick to notice; showing quick and keen perception
    Zeke blinked, surprised. Daniel was usually never this observant.
  10. exasperated
    greatly annoyed; out of patience
    “Why are you after me?” Zeke asked, exasperated. “We’ve barely ever spoken, and suddenly, out of nowhere, you’re trying to bully me, invade my knee—”
  11. tyrant
    any person who exercises power in a cruel way
    “IT IS BECAUSE YOU ARE OUTGROWING HIM!” Miel said. Zeke hadn’t even realized he was still there. “THE TYRANT CANNOT BEAR A BIGGER TYRANT, SO HE MUST KEEP HIM SMALL!”
  12. agape
    with the mouth wide open as in wonder or awe
    Everyone stared at Miel, mouths and beaks agape.
  13. chortle
    a soft partly suppressed laugh
    A little accented voice rose from Zeke’s knee with a chortle.
  14. stereotype
    a conventional or formulaic conception or image
    “It is a stereotype, but they are not wrong. We do love our wine and cheese.”
  15. wince
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    “I HAVE A QUESTION!” Miel said from the back.
    “Yeeeessss?” Mr. MacPherson said, looking over his gnu glasses and wincing at the sheer volume.
Created on Wed Jul 16 21:32:25 EDT 2025 (updated Tue Aug 12 17:15:09 EDT 2025)

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.