WORD LISTS

"Instructions for Dancing" by Nicola Yoon, Chapters 1–12

Thu Jan 25 16:24:52 EST 2024
By Vocabulary.com (NY)Visual Thesaurus Moderator
When her parents' seemingly happy marriage breaks up, high school senior Yvette (Evie) Antoinette Thomas decides she doesn't believe in love anymore, until she starts taking ballroom dancing lessons in preparation for a Los Angeles competition.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–12, Chapters 13–22, Chapters 23–36, Chapters 37–60
funk
It used to be that if I was in a funk or in the barren hinterland between sad and mad, I could just pluck any random one from my favorites shelf and settle into my fuzzy pink chair for a good read.
hinterland
It used to be that if I was in a funk or in the barren hinterland between sad and mad, I could just pluck any random one from my favorites shelf and settle into my fuzzy pink chair for a good read.
cohesive
These days, though, the books are nothing but letters arranged into correctly spelled words, arranged into grammatically correct sentences and well-structured paragraphs and thematically cohesive chapters.
contemporary
Until I started giving them away, the Contemporary Romance section was the biggest.
brooding
The best scene is when the no-nonsense head chef and the sexy, constantly brooding line cook with the mysterious past have a food fight in the kitchen.
perennial
Enemies to Lovers—Asking the perennial question will they kill each other or will they kiss each other?
trope
Second Chance—These days I realize this is the most unrealistic trope. If someone hurts you once, why would you give them the chance to do it again?
jaunty
She tilts her phone and circles the brownie pyramid, taking picture after jaunty picture.
portcullis
The houses here are as big as castles. All they’re missing are moats, portcullises, dragons and damsels in distress.
meander
I ride slowly, meandering down street after street, gawking at the enormous, pristine lawns and the enormously expensive cars.
placard
A small placard reads Little Free Library.
hone
She honed most of her makeup skills by practicing on my face.
vanity
She sits down at her vanity and starts wiping foundation from her cheeks.
propensity
He winces at that detail, but there’s nothing I can do about Danica’s propensity to kiss people who are not Martin.
gauge
I stop talking to gauge his reaction so far.
rivulet
I look down at my mashed potatoes and carve little gravy rivulets with my fork.
tributary
I connect the east and west tributaries in my mashed potatoes.
indeterminate
Close to the top of the staircase, there’s a life-sized poster of a man and woman of indeterminate age wrapped tightly around each other.
stiletto
She’s wearing an astonishingly red asymmetrical dress with long fringe (also astonishingly red) across the bottom and perfectly matching bright-red strappy stilettos.
fringe
Her fringe sways madly with each stomp. She’s an exploding firecracker in human form.
implore
In my head, I hear Martin imploring me to keep an open mind.
barre
The studio is a wide-open space with hardwood floors, barres for stretching and floor-to-ceiling mirrors.
regal
In my entire life, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so regal. She looks like she’s just assumed the throne of a small but powerful Caribbean island nation.
assume
She looks like she’s just assumed the throne of a small but powerful Caribbean island nation.
tulle
Her ball gown is high-necked and pale blue and made from sequined lace, tulle and (I’m pretty sure) the diaphanous wings of actual fairies.
diaphanous
Her ball gown is high-necked and pale blue and made from sequined lace, tulle and (I’m pretty sure) the diaphanous wings of actual fairies.
dapper
He’s wearing a white tux with white suspenders and a bow tie that matches Maggie’s dress perfectly. He’s so dapper, I’m pretty sure he’s the reason the word dapper was invented.
vulgar
“Everyone hated the waltz when it was first introduced to high society. Religious leaders thought it was vulgar and sinful,” he says, and points at Maggie’s dress.
obscene
He tells us that when the waltz arrived in England, one English newspaper thought it was so “obscene” that it printed an editorial warning parents against exposing their daughters to “so fatal a contagion.”
trill
I walk toward the studio where I left my bike and hear the distinct trill of the bell coming from inside.
cataclysm
There are lot of things I’d rather do than have to turn on the lights and interrupt this emotional cataclysm.
gratuitous
The second thing I notice is that he’s very tall. Gratuitously tall, really. He looks ridiculous on my short bike.
abdicate
I force my brain cells to stop abdicating their duties and remind myself that he’s not my type.
uncanny
Aforementioned uncanny ability to raise a single eyebrow.
muse
There’s a man musing on the difference between baking powder and baking soda.
prone
Cassidy is prone to sudden, fleeting obsessions.
fleeting
Cassidy is prone to sudden, fleeting obsessions. Like the time she was going to get an enormous Valkyrie tattooed across her back, or the time she wanted to become a professional trapeze artist.
antic
Sophie laughs at Cassidy’s antics, covering her mouth with her hands the way she always does when she thinks she’s laughing too hard.
fluke
The four of us have been friends since sixth grade, when a scheduling fluke put us—and only us—into the same study period.
kitschy
Sophie says something about wanting to see some kind of biosphere in Arizona. Cassidy wants to see the kitschy stuff, giant balls of twine and all that.

Word List Actions:

Create a new Word List