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Vocabulary
34Section 1 : Chapters 1 - 19
Chapter/Pg #/
Word
Definition
Synonyms
Antonyms
Harami
The Islamic word for
Illegitimate, love child
Genuine,
Paragraph #
1/3/1
meaning bastard.
legitimate child
Nana uses the word
to degrade Mariam.
1/4/1
Kolba
A mud hut or shack.
Shack
N/A
Harlot, Strumpet, Tart
N/A
N/A
N/A
To experience, feel,
Cease, conclude,
undergo
end
Mariam and her
mother live in a
Kolba outside of the
town where her
father resides.
2/8/3
Kinchini
A derogatory term
meaning 'whore'.
Mariam uses the
word to describe
Jalil's wives who she
clearly has negative
sentiments towards.
2/8/3
Herat
Located in
northwestern
Afghanistan, Herat is
capital of Herat
Province, on the
Harirud river. An
ancient city
previously flourishing
with culture and art.
Mariam's birth place.
3/18/5
Tahamul
To endure
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2/11/2
Jo
Dear. It is used as a
Beloved, darling
Any negative,
term of endearment.
derogatory terms
It signifies the way
for a person that
Mariam feels about
show a lack of
her father and
endearment. I.e.
mother. She feels
Harami
strongly about her
father because he
calls her 'Mariam jo',
as where her mother
calls her a harami.
3/16/1
Gaunt
Excessively thin and
angular. Mariam's
Koran tutor, Mullah
Cadaverous, emaciated,
Full, rounded
haggard, skeletal
Faizullah is
described as gaunt.
5/25/9
Forlorn
Sad and lonely
Bereft, forsaken, blue, cast
because of isolation
down, sad, gloomy
Blissful, Boyant
or desertion
5/27/2
Bazaar
A market (as in the
Shop, emporium, store
N/A
Archaic, Affable, Agreeable
Disagreeable, ill-
Middle East)
consisting of rows of
shops or stalls selling
miscellaneous goods
6/40/2
Amiable
Pleasing or
admirable. Mariam
natured, ungenial
describes Mullah
Faizullah's smile as
such.
8/49/2
Gabled
Built with a gable. A
N/A
N/A
gable is the generally
triangular portion of a
wall between the
edges of a sloping
roof. Mariam notes
that Rasheed's front
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two teeth were
pushed together like
a gabled roof.
10/62/1
Splayed
Splay: To spread
Slant, slope, spread
Condense, force
out, expand, or
outwards
inward
Black, bleak, cheerless
Bright, cheerful,
extent
12/76/3
Sullen
Bad-tempered and
sulky; gloomy.
19/140/3
Woebegone
Troubled look of
cordial
Suffering, forlorn, gloomy
Ecstatic, jubilant
Wisdom
Ignorance
N/A
N/A
appearance
19/140/5
Lore
Traditional body of
knowledge
19/140/9
Mandolin
A musical instrument
with a pear-shaped
wooden body and a
fretted neck
Section 2 : Chapters 20 - 51
Chapter/Pg #/
Word
Definition
Synonyms
Antonyms
Coaxed
To attempt to influence by gentle
Flattery
N/A
Manager,
N/A
Paragraph #
20/125/2
persuasion
20/125/7
Curator
The person in charge of a museum
Overseer,
Superintendent
20/126/3
Shaheed
A person who is put to death or
Martyr, Sufferer
Solace
Performed merely as a routine duty;
Negligent,
Careful,
hasty and superficial
Heedless,
Diligent
endures great suffering on behalf of
any belief, principle, or cause
20/129/2
Perfunctory
Thoughtless
20/130/4
Token
Something serving to represent or
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Clue,
N/A
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indicate some fact, event, feeling,
Expression,
Index, Sign
20/130/9
21/131/3
Pallid
Convoy
Lacking in vitality or interest
To accompany or escort, usually for
Lifeless, dull,
Flushed,
faded
sanguine
Accompany
Abandon,
protection
21/133/3
Niche
A place or position suitable or
leave, desert
Calling, position
N/A
A very great or indefinitely great
Numerous,
Limited
number of persons or things
countless,
appropriate for a person or thing
21/135/2
Myriad
endless
22/140/7
Eke
To increase; enlarge; lengthen
Supplement,
Decrease
stretch
22/148/1
Frescoes
The art or technique of painting on a
Painting
N/A
moist, plaster surface with colors
ground up in water or a limewater
mixture.
22/148/5
Immaculate
Free from moral blemish or impurity
Flawless, perfect Dirty, filthy, foul
23/149/4
Impetus
A moving force; impulse; stimulus
Stimulation, Stir,
Prevention,
Boost
blockade
To utter the cry of a sheep, goat, or
Bellow, call,
Whisper
calf
shout
Any of various natural earths
Dark, burnish
containing ferric oxide, silica, and
color
24/151/3
24/153/1
Bleating
Ochre
N/A
alumina: used as yellow or red
pigments
24/156/1
Solace
Comfort in sorrow, misfortune, or
Relief, peace
trouble; alleviation of distress or
Discord,
disharmony
discomfort.
24/157/4
24/159/3
Waylaid
Inconsolable
To intercept or attack from ambush, as Accost, assail,
Allow, forward
in order to rob, seize, or slay.
attack
Incapable of being comforted
Dejected,
Happy,
discouraged
understanding
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24/159/6
Vigils
Wakefulness maintained for any
Attention,
Indifference,
reason during the normal hours for
awareness
ignorance
Bliss, elation
Depression,
sleeping.
25/161/2
Euphoria
A feeling of happiness, content, or
well-being
25/161/5
25/162/1
Burlap
Coy
woe
A plain-woven, coarse fabric of jute,
Bag, cloth,
hemp, or the like; gunny.
wrapping
Artfully or affectedly shy or reserved;
Humble, evasive Aggressive,
slyly hesitant; coquettish.
25/164/4
Rankled
N/A
impudent
To continue to cause keen irritation or
Aggravate,
bitter resentment within the mind;
anger, bother
Delight, please
fester; be painful.
25/164/7
Aloofness
The quality or state of being distant,
Distance,
cold, or uninterested; an appearance
indifference
Care, concern
of being above the fray; indifference:
25/165/2
Fodder
Coarse food for livestock, composed
Food, meal,
of entire plants, including leaves,
provisions
Drink
stalks, and grain, of such forages as
corn and sorghum.
26/166/1
Contentiousness Tending to argument or strife;
Aggression, fight Peace
quarrelsome
26/169/3
Repertoire
The entire stock of skills, techniques,
Range, reserve,
or devices used in a particular field or
stock
N/A
occupation
26/169/7
Conspiratorial
Evil, unlawful secret, formulated by
Hidden, insidious Honest, truthful
two people
26/170/3
Cretinous
A stupid, obtuse, or mentally defective
Foolish, idiotic
Smart, witty
Unceremonious,
Slowly,
Short, Curt
Relaxed
person.
26/171/5
Brusquely
Abrupt in manner; blunt; rough
27/174/2
Suffused
To flush or spread over thoroughly
Fill, interject
N/A
27/174/3
Fatigues
Weariness from mental or bodily
Exhaustion,
Energy, spirit
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exertion
lethargy
27/174/6
Ubiquitous
Existing or being everywhere
Omnipresent
Nowhere
27/179/1
Sullen
Bad-tempered and sulky; gloomy.
Black, bleak,
Bright,
cheerless
cheerful, cordial
Fasten, join
Segregate,
27/180/1
Sutured
A joining of the lips or edges of a
wound or the like by stitching or some
disjoint
similar process
27/183/4
28/187/2
Ironclad
Very rigid, inflexible
Resuscitate
Abiding,
Lenient,
unwavering
yielding
Waken, enliven
Kill
To revive, especially from apparent
death or from unconsciousness.
28/188/2
Bewail
To express deep sorrow
Mourn
Celebrate
28/188/4
Imprudence
Lacking discretion
Rash
Intelligent
30/196/5
Virtue
Moral excellence; goodness;
Goodness,
Vice
righteousness
Probity, Integrity
31/199/5
Diwana
Mentally deranged; demented; insane
Crazy
Sane
31/200/1
Sutured
Stitched back together
Join
Disjoin
31/202/1
Unbidden
Not asked or summoned
Impulsive, willing Deliberate,
planned
31/202/3
Wan
Unnatural or sickly pallor
Ill, unhappiness,
Sprightly
sick
31/202/4
Churlishness
Difficult to work with
Mean
Kindness,
flattery
32/205/3
32/208/2
32/208/4
33/212/1
Piety
Ambled
Anonymity
Swaddled
Reverence for God or devout
Belief, fervor,
Irreverence
fulfillment of religious obligations
faith
To go at a slow, easy pace; stroll;
Ramble,
Hurried,
saunter
Meander
Rushed
The state or quality of being
Namelessness,
Blatant, Visible
anonymous
Hidden
To bind (an infant, especially a
To blind
Reveal
newborn infant) with long, narrow
strips of cloth to prevent free
movement; wrap tightly with clothes
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34/222/5
Serrated
having a notched edge or sawlike
Rigid
Smooth
Free from guile; sincere; honest;
Artless,
Tricky,
straightforward; frank.
Ingenuous,
Fraudulent
teeth, especially for cutting
35/226/4
Guilelessly
Naive
Mariam is taken aback by the way
Aziza latches on to her, she has never
felt such unreserved love
37/249/4
38/252/6
Urbane
Perspective
Having the polish and suavity regarded
Suave,
Rural,
as characteristic of sophisticated social
Cosmopolitan,
Rundown,
life in major cities
Refined,
Uncivilized,
Polished
Unsophisticated
A way of regarding situations,
Viewpoint,
N/A
facts, etc, and judging their relative
Outlook
importance
the proper or accurate point of
view or the ability to see it;
objectivity
39/256/2
Ruefully
Causing sorrow or pity; pitiable;
Contrite,
Cheerful,
(Rueful)
deplorable
remorseful,
happy, giddy
Mariam remembers her life with Nana
ruthful, sorry
ruefully. She is saddened and
disgusted by the way her mother spoke
to her and treated her.
40/262/1
Petrified
To make rigid or inert; harden; deaden
Immobilize,
As Mariam and Laila attempt to dig a
dumbfounded,
Soft, lively
hole in the yard, they find the ground to dazed,
40/264/5
Intonations
be particularly petrified. It is hard a
mineralized,
difficult to penetrate.
numb
The pattern or melody of pitch changes Enunciation,
in connected speech, especially the
N/A
tone, emphasis
pitch pattern of a sentence, which
distinguishes kinds of sentences or
speakers of different language cultures.
Aziza's manner of speaking is
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described as using intonation.
40/265/1
41/275/4
Volatile
Malice
Tending or threatening to break out into Explosive,
Reserved, safe
open violence; explosive
fickle
Desire to inflict injury, harm, or
Ill will, spite,
Benevolence,
suffering on another, either because of
spitefulness;
goodwill.
a hostile impulse or out of deep-seated
animosity,
meanness
enmity
As Mariam compares Jalil and
Rasheed's she is quick to note
Rasheed as being particularly malice, a
trait that Jalil lacked entirely.
42/280/1
Magnanimous
Generous in forgiving an insult or
Big, liberal,
injury; free from petty resentfulness or
unspiteful
Petty, stingy
vindictiveness
As Rasheed gives Aziza gum as a
parting gift he seems to do so with an
air of magnanimosity. It is as if he is
giving her the parting gift generously as
if he is working past the insult that his
daughter has left him with, when in
reality it is the other way around.
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