Every Body Looking: List 3

by Candice Iloh
As Ada begins college and looks toward the future, she also needs to come to terms with her past.

This list covers pages 237–403 of the 2020 Dutton edition.

Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2, List 3
25 words 70 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. tussle
    disorderly fighting
    She has now been here for a week
    and this night I cannot sleep
    hearing something like a tussle
    a fight, words flinging midair
    like knives
  2. classical
    of recognized authority or excellence
    So why do you think
    they’re paying
    all this money
    to be here, then

    if you don’t
    really need
    to be classically

    trained
    to dance
  3. trance
    a state resembling deep sleep
    I don’t notice the silence
    is only in my head until
    Mama’s cackle jerks me
    from my place mat trance
  4. outrageous
    greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation
    I loved Mama’s laugh
    the way it would erupt
    from her belly unexpected
    and outrageous
  5. aimlessly
    without a specific goal or focus
    how that goes
    I say shuffling clothes
    aimlessly around the room
  6. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    she’s more than just
    a pointed toe now
    her sculpted body sprawls out
    on the page like a giant X
  7. graze
    scrape gently
    be careful, sis, she warns the girl
    still waiting silent behind Elliot
    with a paused look
    over his right shoulder
    grazes my arm
  8. solidarity
    a union of interests or purposes among members of a group
    Elliot throws up the Black Power fist
    mocking Kendra’s solidarity
    with his next freshman conquest
  9. entitle
    give the right to
    watch how many hands
    of sweaty unknowns she swats
    dodging entitled boys’ advances
    drawn to her free curves
  10. inhibition
    the conscious exclusion of unacceptable thoughts or desires
    we still forget
    people are looking
    feel myself lose it
    hearing hip-hop
    shift to soca
    then become afrobeat
    feel rhythms rock
    any inhibition
    I came with
  11. consume
    engage fully
    the sexiest things
    under red lights
    where everybody
    dances consumed
    in their own world
  12. naive
    lacking information or instruction
    they weren’t
    really tryna dance
    Kendra tells me, laughing
    with a look that questions
    my seriousness and how
    I could be so naive
  13. adorn
    make more attractive, as by adding ornament or color
    elaborate geles adorn glossy weaves
    matched long fabrics tied to waists swinging
    this native dress gleams
    under bright party lights
  14. decline
    refuse to accept
    Aunty extends a hand
    stretched with a wave in my direction
    an invitation to join her and the other women
    in this dance that I always decline
  15. debit
    an accounting entry acknowledging sums that are owing
    My head spins listening
    to the professor talking about credits and debits
    cause I still don’t know the difference
    between its meaning in accounting
    and the cards you use to buy things
  16. schmooze
    talk in a friendly way, especially to gain an advantage
    I was, Professor Gray, I’m always listening
    I schmooze the way Dad taught me
  17. masochist
    someone who obtains pleasure from receiving punishment
    Look who came back for more
    I see you must be a masochist
    didn’t get dragged enough the first time
    so you done came back
  18. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    a person who enjoys
    an activity
    that appears
    to be painful
    or tedious
  19. momentum
    an impelling force or strength
    I hear him say
    push

    my thigh uses my back leg for momentum
    letting the front leg lift the heel off the ground
  20. emphasize
    stress or single out as important
    Professor Gray pausing
    dramatically as I make
    my way to the back
    repeats the date of our first exam
    three times making sure

    to emphasize how much
    of our overall grade
    it will count for
  21. possess
    enter into and control, as of emotions or ideas
    back in my father’s church sometimes
    everyone would watch someone
    who they called possessed

    lie on the ground twisting and contorting
    in ways that the body wouldn’t
    if something powerful weren’t inside it
  22. contort
    twist and press out of shape
    back in my father’s church sometimes
    everyone would watch someone
    who they called possessed

    lie on the ground twisting and contorting
    in ways that the body wouldn’t
    if something powerful weren’t inside it
  23. sanctuary
    area around the altar of a church for the clergy and choir
    and everyone in the sanctuary
    would pray against the spirit
    with hands stretched out toward
  24. gratitude
    a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation
    I force a smile of gratitude
  25. elaborate
    marked by complexity and richness of detail
    My phone rings on the way out of the admin building
    see the screen read DAD
    and answer this time
    think to make up
    some elaborate lie
    to explain why
    I haven’t been
    answering his calls
Created on 十月 8, 2020 (updated 十月 13, 2020)

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