Patron Saints of Nothing Vocab: Ch. 11-16

compete or struggle for an advantage or a position

• reconcile

• jockey

• stymie

• undulate

Answer explanation

Bags and balikbayan boxes start sliding down the ramp, but I hang back as everyone else jockeys for better position.

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

without rigor or strictness

• mundane

• temporal

• gangly

• lax

Answer explanation

Then I push through a surprisingly lax customs line and past the crowd of families waiting outside of arrivals.

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

tall, thin, and awkward

• gangly

• superficial

• discreet

• immaculate

Answer explanation

She’s deep in that awkward preteen phase complete with pimples, braces, and gangly limbs.

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment

• reconcile

• maw

• stymie

• lapse

Answer explanation

We creep forward, stymied by the bumper-to-bumper Friday morning traffic surrounding the airport.

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

determination of the position of objects by reflected sound

• echolocation

• cacophony

• obelisk

• microcosm

Answer explanation

It’s like people are using their horns for echolocation, so there’s an unending cacophony of beeping over the rumble of engines.

a loud harsh or strident noise

• broach

• cacophony

• atrium

• epaulette

Answer explanation

It’s like people are using their horns for echolocation, so there’s an unending cacophony of beeping over the rumble of engines.

Tags

CCSS.RF.3.3B

CCSS.RF.3.3C

CCSS.RF.3.3D

CCSS.RF.4.3A

CCSS.RF.5.3A

shaped into alternating parallel grooves and ridges

• garish

• corrugated

• mangy

• temporal

Answer explanation

On the other side of the thin wall that lines the highway, I catch glimpses of small homes with unpainted cinder-block walls and corrugated metal roofs.

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

CCSS.RI.7.4

tastelessly showy

• expansive

• discreet

• garish

• subservient

Answer explanation

Tomas pulls startlingly close to the rear ends of garishly painted jeepneys stuffed over capacity with passengers, swerves into oncoming traffic, and then cuts back into the right lane just in time, making motorcycles and tricycles dodge to avoid us.

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

CCSS.RI.7.4

careful, in order to avoid causing offense or being noticed

• lax

• mundane

• incriminating

• discreet

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

completely neat and clean

• ordained

• bulbous

• immaculate

• incriminating

Answer explanation

Some of the houses have fresh paint and look immaculately maintained, while others look run-down or half-completed.

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.7.4