Vocabulary List 1
perseverance - steady persistence, insistence, determination, dedication, commitment, endurance
Page 8 -
Stanley's father was an inventor. To be a successful inventor you
need three things: intelligence, perseverance, and just a little bit of luck.
Stanley's father was smart and had a lot of perseverance.
Once he started a project he would work on it for years, often going days without sleep.
he just never had any luck.
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desolate - Devoid of inhabitants; deserted, abandoned, bare, empty, godforsaken, isolated, lonely, solitary, uninhabited, unoccupied, unused, vacant, wild
Page 11 -
The land was barren and desolate. He could see a few rundown buildings and some tents.
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preposterous - so devoid of wisdom or good sense as to be laughable, absurd, crazy, excessive, extreme, far out, foolish, harebrained, insane, irrational, laughable, loony, ludicrous, nonsensical, outrageous, ridiculous, senseless, silly, stupid, unreasonable, unthinkable, wacky
Page 34 -
"Why not let Myra decide?" suggested Elya.
"That's preposterous!" exclaimed Igor, expelling saliva as he spoke.
"Myra is just an empty-headed girl," said her father. "How can she possibly decide, when I, her father, can't?"
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intensity - exceptionally great concentration, power, or force, acuteness, anxiety, deepness, depth, earnestness, emotion, emphasis, intenseness, keenness, magnitude, might
Page 47-
Zero stared at him for a moment, with the same intensity with which he had been staring at the letter.
engraved - carved, cut out, or etched into a material, blocked out, depicted, etched, marked out, sketched
Page 62 -
"It looks like an old shotgun shell," said Squid.
"Yeah, that's probably what it is," said Stanley. He decided not to mention the engraved design. Maybe nobody would notice it. He doubted X-Ray could see it.
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paranoid - exhibiting or characterized by extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others, unglued, unhinged, unsettled, schizophrenic
Page 71 -
"She watches us all the time," said Zigzag. "She's got hidden cameras all over the place. In the tents, the Wreck Room, the shower."
"The shower?" asked Stanley. He wondered if Zigzag was just being paranoid.
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evict - To put out (a tenant, for example) by legal process; expel, throw out, remove, dislodge, put out, eject
Page 75 - The landlord is threatening to evict us because of the odor.
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callused -To form or develop such hardened tissue, coarse, rough
Page 80 - His muscles had strengthened, and his hands were tough and callused.
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refuge - A place providing protection or shelter, retreat, sanctuary, security, resting place
Page 93 - When he was asked how he lived so long, he said he "found refuge on God's thumb."
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concoctions - the act of creating something by mixing raw materials, mixture, preparation, compound
Page 108 - They would get regular medicine from Doc Hawthorn and onion concoctions from Sam. After they got over their illness, no one could be sure, not even Doc Hawthorn, which of the two treatments had done the trick.