WORD LISTS

"We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart, Part One

Wed Mar 09 13:34:04 EST 2016
By Vocabulary.com (NY)Visual Thesaurus Moderator
Something terrible happened on the private island where Cadence and her family spend their summers — but Cadence can't remember what it was. When she returns to the island, Cadence begins to uncover the truth.


Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five

Here is a link to our lists for Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart.
aggressive
The Sinclairs are athletic, tall, and handsome. We are old-money Democrats. Our smiles are wide, our chins square, and our tennis serves aggressive.
cluster
It doesn’t matter if there’s a cluster of pill bottles on the bedside table.
desperately
It doesn’t matter if one of us is desperately, desperately in love.
suffer
It is true I suffer migraines since my accident.
It is true I do not suffer fools.
I like a twist of meaning. You see? Suffer migraines. Do not suffer fools.
fond
He was never fond of my grandparents, either, and it was a sign of how much he loved both me and Mummy that he spent every summer in Windemere House on Beechwood Island, writing articles on wars fought long ago and putting on a smile for the relatives at every meal.
assets
We asked Granddad’s lawyers to secure Mummy’s assets.
majestic
Made for princes and Ivy League schools, ivory statues and majestic houses.
effort
Johnny, he is bounce, effort, and snark.
curiosity
Mirren, she is sugar, curiosity, and rain.
contemplation
Gat seemed spring-loaded. Like he was searching for something. He was contemplation and enthusiasm.
falsehood
I had come here to this island from a house of tears and falsehood and I saw Gat, and I saw that rose in his hand, and in that one moment, with the sunlight from the window shining in on him, the apples on the kitchen counter, the smell of wood and ocean in the air, I did call it love.
relentless
Here is something I love about Gat: he is so enthusiastic, so relentlessly interested in the world, that he has trouble imagining the possibility that other people will be bored by what he’s saying.
warp
“We have a warped view of humanity on Beechwood,” Gat said.
agitate
“I should live for today and not be agitating all the time.”
selfish
“What we mean is, we love you. You remind us that we’re selfish bastards. You’re not one of us, that way.”
tentative
Our kiss was electric and soft, and tentative and certain, terrifying and exactly right.
legendary
The legendary Sinclairs, what fun we’d had, how beautiful we were.
distress
Don’t cause distress, she said.
critical
At meals with the aunts, on the boat with Granddad, even alone with Mummy—I behaved as if those two critical people had never existed.
oblivious
Every time Gat said these things, so casual and truthful, so oblivious—my veins opened.
agony
I’d stagger from the table or collapse in quiet shameful agony, hoping no one in the family would notice.
covert
He touched me whenever he could. Beneath the table at dinner, in the kitchen the moment it was empty. Covertly, hilariously, behind Granddad’s back while he drove the motorboat.
plunge
I remember only this: I plunged down into this ocean, down to rocky rocky bottom, and I could see the base of Beechwood Island and my arms and legs felt numb but my fingers were cold.
prone
I lay prone on the bathroom floors of several museums, feeling the cold tile underneath my cheek as my brain liquefied and seeped out my ear, bubbling.
revive
Instead, we knew our affection would revive when we saw one another on the dock the following June, salt spray in the air, pale sun glinting off the water.
devise
Play tennis. Build a bonfire. Then report back. I am desperately bored and will devise creative punishments if you do not comply.
explicitly
We believe, although we will not say so explicitly, in prescription drugs and the cocktail hour.
impact
We haven’t the weight of Granddad in Boston or the impact of the whole family on Beechwood, but I know how people see us nonetheless.
aura
Still, she has an aura of mystery that stops her from being teased or singled out for typical high school unpleasantness.
narrative
However, I am not immune to the feeling of being viewed as a mystery, as a Sinclair, as part of a privileged clan of special people, and as part of a magical, important narrative, just because I am part of this clan.

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