Vocabulary - Chapters 6-9

Abhor: to regard with extreme adversion

• "Afghans cherish custom but abhor rules." p. 52
• The man had a very abhor talk with his wife; they were getting a divorce.
• Synonyms: despise, hate
• Antonyms: loathe, love, admire

Indignation: strong displeasure at something considered insulting or offensive

• "'I'd sooner eat dirt,' he said with a look of indignation." p. 54
• The lady's face was in shock and indignation, she couldn't believe that man would embarrass her the way he just had.
• Synonyms: displeasure, resentment, wrath, scorn
• Antonyms: calm, cheer, delight

Integrity: soundness of moral character

• " If I was going to toy with him and challenge his loyalty, then he'd toy with me, test my integrity." p. 54
• He did the right thing by turning himself in, at least he still had his integrity. 
• Synonyms: honesty, principle, sincerity
• Antonyms: dishonesty, disgrace

  Curtly: rudely brief in speech

• "'Why don't you ask him, then? He's so smart,' I said, more curtly than intended." p. 60
• She answered the teacher very curtly, because her grandfather had passed away the night before.
• Synonyms: bluntly, harshly, crudely
• Antonyms: politely

Shirked: to evade

• "...on stage or at parties, he shirked the austere and nearly morose stance of older singers and actually smiled when he sang-sometimes even at women." p. 61
• He shirked the responsibility of baby sitting his sister, saying he had to be somewhere important.
• Synonyms: cheat, dodge, elude
• Antonyms: confront, encounter

Austere: severe in manner or appearance

• "...on stage or at parties, he shirked the austere and nearly morose stance of older singers and actually smiled when he sang-sometimes even at women." p. 61 
•  The boy's austere manner made it hard for him to make friends at his new school.
• Synonyms: exacting, forbidding, formal
• Antonyms: flexible, calm

Morose: expressing gloom

• "...on stage or at parties, he shirked the austere and nearly morose stance of older singers and actually smiled when he sang-sometimes even at women." p. 61 
• The faces at the funeral were all very morose.
• Synonyms: cranky, gloomy, glum, sullen
• Antonyms: bright, cheerful, content

Havoc: great destruction or devastation

• "A havoc of scrap and rubble littered the alley." p. 75
• The little girl's parents had left her in such havoc after telling her they were getting a divorce.
• Synonyms: chaos, devastation, confusion, distruction
• Antonyms: blessing, miracle, calm

Imminent: likely to occur at any moment

• "I imagine the animal sees that its imminent demise is for a higher purpose." p. 77
• It's imminent for someone to read a book in the library.
• Synonyms: immediate, likely, probable
• Antonyms: avoidable, escapable

Guileless: sincere, honest

• "Or, God forbid, what I feared most: guileless devotion?" p. 78
• Abraham Lincoln is known for his guileless. 
• Synonyms: unsophisticated, candid, genuine
• Antonyms: clever, dishonest

Insomniac: difficulty falling or staying asleep

• "That was the night I become an insomniac." p. 86
• After the divorce which scarred him emotionally, he became an insomniac.
• Synonyms: alive, attentive, sleeplessness
• Antonyms: sleepy, unaware

Harried: to attack or annoy

• "He was hanging clothes to dry in the yard I saw his eagerness in the harried way he finished the job." p. 91
• The teenager was harried by the constant thought of his grades. 
• Synonyms: agitated, bothered, stressed
• Antonyms: calm, collected, untroubled

Anonymity: the state of being anonymous 

• "I turned thirteen that summer of 1976, Afghanistan's next to last summer of peace and anonymity." p. 93
• The boy told the principal that he wanted to stay in anonymity so the class didn't know it was him who told.
• Synonyms: anonymous, invisibility, nameless
• Antonyms: -

Interlude: an intervening episode, period, etc

• "I regretted saying it- I really did-but I think even if I hadn't, our happy little interlude would have come to an end." p. 93
• I didn't want this interlude to end, it was perfect.
• Synonyms: lull, recess
• Antonyms: continuation, continuation

Embodiment: the act of embodying

• "On the surface, he was the embodiment of every parent's dream, a strong, tall, well-dressed well-mannered with talent and striking looks, not to mention the wit to joke with an adult." p. 96
• The new girl was the embodiment of every subject, she was going to have a successful school year.
• Synonyms: exemplar, apothesis
• Antonyms: exclusion, disorganization

Facade: illusion of something

• "When I looked into them, the facade faltered, revealed a glimpse of the madness hiding behind them." p. 97
• The facade on the big screen started to make me dizzy.
• Synonyms: false front, fake
• Antonyms: reality, truth

Alter ego: a second-self

• "I've always thought of him as Baba's quiet alter ego, my writing mentor, my pal, the one who never forgot to bring me a souvenir, a saughat, when he returned from a trip abroad." p. 98
• I think of my best friends as my alter egos.
• Synonyms: second-self
• Antonyms: -

Blood money: a fee paid to a hired murderer

• "That was the only one that didn't feel like blood money." p. 102
• Blood money is paid by people who don't want to murder that person by themselves.
• Synonyms: -
• Antonyms: -

Grimace: an ugly or contorted facial expression

• "His mouth twitched and, for a moment, I thought I saw a grimace." p. 107
• By the grimace on his face, I could tell he was uncomfortable with the situation.
• Synonyms: scowl, sneer, smirk
• Antonyms: grin