Thirteen Reasons Why Vocabulary

1. Thirteen Reasons Why Vocabulary Hutchinson English 11

2. Baker’s dozen “Baker’s dozen,” I mumble. Then I feel disgusted for even noticing it.

3. Inference Baker’s dozen—a group of thirteen

4. Serrated I watch her tear the slip across the serrated plastic and drop it into a wastebasket.

5. Inference Serrated—having notched, tooth like projections

6. Meanders It leads through the front doors and turns into a hallway, which meanders between rows of lockers and classrooms on both sides, finally entering the always-open door to first period.

7. Example/Explanation Meanders—to follow a winding and turning course

8. Contemplating He’s always looking out windows, contemplating something.

9. Inference Contemplating—considering thoughtfully

10. Spindles I hold my finger over the button, listening to the soft hum in the speakers, the faint squeak of the spindles winding the tape, waiting for her voice to return.

11. Inference Spindles—slender mechanical parts that revolve

12. Motivation But this tape is not about your motivation, Alex. Though that is coming up. This tape is about how people change when they see your name on a stupid list.

13. Inference Motivation—the act of providing a reason to do something

14. Repercussions So, to back up a bit, this tape isn’t about why you did what you did Alex. It’s about the repercussions of what you did. More specifically, it’s about the repercussions to me.

15. Inference Repercussions—an indirect effect, influence or result produced by an event or action

16. Erratically Across the street, the neon sign of Restless Video flickers erratically.

17. Synonym Erratically—done in a way lacking consistency or regularity

18. Mesmerized I just watched those lips move up and down. Mesmerized when she said things like “slippery slope,” which, behind her lips, exposed the underside of her tongue.

19. Inference Mesmerized—hypnotized

20. Condescending And when this guy saw me upset, did he apologize? No. Instead, he got aggressive. Then, in the most condescending way, he told me to relax.

21. Inference Condescending—dealing with a person in a way that assumes one is superior to the other person

22. Montage Because when I close my eyes, everything happens in a kind of montage. Laughing. Trying hard not to spill our drinks. Waving our hands while we talk.

23. Example Montage—group of pictures sequenced and superimposed to create a single impression

24. Decelerates I hold myself steady as the bus decelerates and pulls into the curb.

25. Example Decelerates—slows down

26. Candid But is that the only way you use this stuff? Candid shots of the student body?

27. Inference Candid—not posed or rehearsed

28. Initiative Before coming here, I took the initiative to look up the word “candid” in the dictionary.

29. Inference Initiative-the power, ability or instinct to begin or follow through energetically with a plan or task

30. Spontaneous So tell me, Tyler, those nights you stood outside my window, was I spontaneous enough for you? Did you catch me in all my natural, unposed…

31. Synonym Spontaneous—happening without any apparent external cause

32. Nostalgia We all know the sound a camera makes when it snaps a picture. Even some digitals do it for nostalgia’s sake.

33. Inference Nostalgia—bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past

34. Validate I wanted someone to be afraid for me. I wanted someone to validate my fears.

35. Inference Validate—to confirm

36. Grotesque They mark special occasions, write horrible poetry, sketch things that are beautiful or grotesque, or just rant.

37. Inference Grotesque—characterized by distortion

38. Anthology Here, Courtney, is your contribution to the anthology of my life.

39. Inference Anthology—collection of literary pieces such as poems, short stories or plays

40. Compelled Why do I feel so compelled to follow her map? I don’t need to. I’m listening to the tapes, every single one, front and back, and that should be enough.

41. Inference Compelled—forced

42. Stifle I can’t stifle a laugh at my own lame joke.

43. Inference Stifle—to cut off

44. Callousness Like the person who grabbed my a** at Blue Spot Liquor, what he was about to say was just an aftereffect of someone else’s actions—someone else’s callousness.

45. Inference Callousness—state of being unfeeling

46. Decipher Decipher a bunch of notes scribbled on the board probably five minutes before class started, then copy them down in your notebook.

47. Inference Decipher—to read or interpret (something ambiguous, obscure or illegible)

48. Pessimist Icould leave the office a pessimist and take my survey with me.

49. Inference Pessimist—person with a tendency to take the gloomiest possible view of a situation

50. Optimist Or I could leave it as an optimist and hope for the best.