1-page, Section-by-Section Vocabulary Printables

Top pick: a high-value academic verb for acting in advance to prevent something. Ender's plan to head off the gang's revenge gives vivid, unambiguous context and the section's strongest excerpt. Recurs widely in academic writing.

Strong Tier-2 word used figuratively of character; the worry that Ender will bend to another's will makes the abstract meaning concrete. Rich connotation and a precise term a target-grade student can carry into other reading.

Strong Tier-2 word for a deceptive pretense; the adults' debate over whether the Stilson test 'was a charade' frames the meaning and ties to a central turn in the section. Useful, transferable academic vocabulary.

High-value Tier-2 word common in history and social studies; the parents' effort to blend into 'normal complying society' supplies the meaning. Rich connotation and clear context make it a strong vocabulary-growth pick.

Strong Tier-2 verb for formally giving something up; the father renouncing his religion, alongside changing his name, anchors the meaning. High academic utility and meaningful connotation worth exploring.

Strong academic verb meaning to get around a rule or obstacle; the parents circumventing the law to have a third child gives clean context and ties to the section's core situation. Recurs across academic reading.

Strong Tier-2 phrase from the legal and civic register: circumstances that partly excuse Ender's act. Likely to reappear in academic and real-world contexts, with clear in-scene framing by the officer.

High-value academic word for open disbelief; the mother's incredulity that hospitalizing Stilson earned a pass shows the meaning plainly. A precise, transferable term a target-grade student gains real use from.

Useful academic verb for cancelling or revoking; Ender imagining the authorities rescinding the waivers that let him be born supports the sense. High Tier-2 value, though limited in connotation.

Admitted on a second look from the prior quiz: a strong civic and military term for officially demanding or taking something for official use. Graff's line that the government 'requisitioned' Ender -- acquiring a child like materiel -- is chilling and ties straight to the book's central theme, and the word recurs in history and civics reading.

contour: Cross-curricular Tier-2 word strong in geography and science; Ender's three-dimensional 'contour maps of mountainous islands' shows it tracing shape and elevation. Good vocabulary-growth value beyond this text.

noncompliant: Just missed: central to the section's backstory and builds morphology (non- + comply), but slightly narrower academic reach than the chosen tenth word.

commiserated: Strong, nuanced Tier-2 word, but the 'came home and commiserated' line is an incidental excerpt that teaches it less vividly than the chosen words.

glowered: Vivid verb for an angry stare, but it matters little to comprehension and the brief excerpt offers limited teaching support.

jackal: Nice figurative use for a predatory person, but the literal animal is familiar and the figurative sense is incidental to the section.

mirth: Literary word for genuine laughter with good connotation, but minor to comprehension and narrower in academic use.

supine: Very difficult and tied to the pivotal Stilson scene, but rare in academic reading, which kept it off the quiz list.

telltale: Useful word for a revealing sign, but moderate difficulty and low comprehension stakes left it just below the line.

conscripts: Solid Tier-2 word, but the contrast with 'volunteers' nearly hands over the meaning and the excerpt is incidental.

A strong, high-utility word with real moral weight: Graff admits to actions that deserve contempt, and the line frames the book's question of whether good people do terrible things. Memorable excerpt, clear meaning, and a word students meet again in academic reading.

Valuable, common academic adjective in a vivid moment: the room's shift from rage and laughter to hushed gravity when authority speaks makes the meaning visible. Good Tier 2 value and a strong excerpt make it well worth teaching.

A strong word for the horrifying, taught through the repeated gruesome deaths in the mind game. Rich connotation and a memorable excerpt; steady value in literary and academic reading, with the meaning clear from context but not handed over.

A high-value academic word naming the central idea of the launch chapter: the loss of any settled sense of direction. The excerpt nearly defines it, so it leans easy, but the concept is central to following the chapter and the word recurs.

Among the most useful words here for academic and civic reading: Ender's certainty that no one will pity him names compassion by its absence. Most students know it, but its high Tier 2 value and central emotional role earn it a slot.

A high-utility word for scorn, shown directly by Graff's open disdain and reinforced when Bernard 'treated them with contempt.' Recurs in the section, common in academic reading, and clearly worth a target-grade student's vocabulary.

A strong, common literary and academic noun that drives this part of the story: Bernard's hunger to repay his broken arm. Clear meaning in context, recurs as a motive, and reliably useful well beyond this text.

Worth teaching for its figurative use: not literal rubbing but resenting control, as a few boys 'chafed under Bernard's rule.' Higher difficulty and rich connotation make the extended meaning a real learning target, with solid Tier 2 value.

A precise, difficult word for taking pleasure in others' pain; the clause about those who 'loved pain in others' supplies the meaning. Strong excerpt and worth a target-grade student's vocabulary, though it recurs less in everyday academic reading than the top picks.

A useful word built on 'torment,' naming the kind of person Bernard is and tying him to Peter, a thread that runs through the book. Clear, teachable meaning and a solid excerpt; less academically pervasive than the strongest Tier 2 nouns here.

cronies: Strong, slightly disapproving Tier 2 word that nearly made the ten; edged out by quiz words with more comprehension weight.

scrupulously: Difficult, useful adverb with rich meaning, but its low importance to comprehension here kept it just below the line.

flamboyant: Useful, vivid adjective; the showy-clothing contrast is clear, but it matters little to following the story.

extricated: A good, fairly difficult Tier 2 verb, but it sits in an ordinary passage and isn't central to comprehension.

deft: Solid Tier 2 word that recurs as 'deftly,' but lower difficulty and comprehension weight than the chosen ten.

diverged: Useful academic verb shown literally by the boys' flight paths; just edged out by stronger words.

intricate: High-utility adjective in a nicely crafted image, but low importance to comprehension left it below the line.

lithe: Vivid, precise descriptive word in a strong image, but narrow value and low importance to comprehension kept it out.

enraged: Useful word for intense anger, but most students already know it well, which limits its teaching value.

whimsically: Rich, fairly difficult adverb tied to 'whim,' but minor to comprehension and less common in academic reading.

The section's strongest quiz-word: Ender's gracious mercy toward Bonzo only deepens Bonzo's shame, making a hard, high-value word teachable in a vivid moment. Generous toward a beaten rival, it rewards both comprehension and vocabulary growth.

Highly transferable word for a false front. The surface 'peace and cooperation' masking real tensions between the world's powers shows 'facade' clearly, and it recurs across literary and informational reading. Strong all around.

Thematically central: Ender watches the warm fellowship of old friends but feels shut out, so the excerpt teaches the word and the chapter's ache of isolation at once. A high-value word students will reuse.

Excellent vocabulary-growth word. The gap between Val's faked unconcern and her eager listening makes the meaning vivid; a relaxed, studied indifference carries nuance worth learning even though it is not central to the plot here.

Strong, transferable word and central to the Locke/Demosthenes plot: the hostile 'Demosthenes' Val performs online is a put-on public self. Teaches a Tier 2 word and a key idea of the chapter together.

Useful, high-transfer word. The siblings expecting to be so firmly established that exposure can't hurt them shows 'entrenched' as dug-in and hard to dislodge, a word students meet often in history and argument.

Strong noun for total destruction; spreading humanity so wide that no disaster could wipe it out shows the meaning. A high-value, morphologically rich word (annihilate) worth a quiz slot.

Vivid, nuanced word: Bonzo's helpless, humiliated resentment at owing his command to Ender shows 'galling' as bitterly irritating and shaming. Strong excerpt and a Tier 2 word a target-grade student is unlikely to own.

Central to the chapter, since the whole Locke/Demosthenes scheme turns on false names, so comprehension importance is high and the word transfers to any talk of authorship. Lower nuance than others, but its clarity and usefulness earn the slot.

Useful abstract word anchoring Peter's theory that a shifting, unsettled world can be moved by the right voice. 'In flux' transfers widely across academic reading; a strong, high-difficulty Tier 2 word worth learning.

denunciation: Strong, transferable Tier 2 noun; just edged out by a deep field of equally strong words.

stolid: Fine nuanced adjective for the impassive Salamanders; lost its slot only to higher-value words.

abjectly: Vivid 'waiting abjectly for destruction'; strong, but bumped by a crowded field.

desiccated: Vivid, well-anchored word for the shriveled Giant, but more descriptive than transferable; just missed.

megalomania: Memorable word for Peter's delusion of grandeur; solid, but other words taught more here.

sequester: Useful verb in Graff's threat to confine the family; squeezed out by stronger candidates.

incognito: Plot-relevant, Demosthenes hiding his identity, but a notch below the chosen words in value.

invective: Good word for the cutting debate language, but the excerpt is thin and it just missed.

acquiescence: Strong, nuanced noun for giving in, undercut by a weak, bare excerpt; a near miss.

A high-value academic word and the strongest pick here: rare enough that few target-grade students know it, with a confrontation ('Do not be disingenuous with me') that makes the sense of feigned honesty clear. Strong Tier 2 value and a memorable excerpt.

Pervasive in academic reading and rarely known at this grade, so excellent for vocabulary growth. The excerpt enacts the meaning -- the enemy's shouts confirm Bean's report -- giving students a clear model of 'confirm with evidence.'

Common in academic and everyday writing and worth the precise sense of looking down on others as inferior. The 'condescending leer of the hunter for his cornered victim' is a vivid, craft-rich excerpt that pins the meaning.

Rare and rich, with an ideal teaching excerpt: the text immediately glosses it as 'secret, subtle, roundabout.' That in-text gloss hands students the meaning, but the passage is so clean and memorable it stays a strong word to teach and a useful Tier 2 word.

Uncommon and worth teaching, with real bearing on comprehension -- 'Bonzo's ineptitude' explains how Dragon Army won. High difficulty and solid Tier 2 value make it a strong vocabulary-growth pick.

Vivid and important to the buggers passage; the triad 'ugly and murderous and loathsome' carries the sense of disgust and supports comprehension of Ender's dread. Notable craft and a strong, emotionally charged excerpt.

Rare and forceful, naming the general's verdict on leaving Ender unprotected. The accusation supplies the sense of something shockingly wrong. High difficulty and good Tier 2 value reward teaching it.

One of the most pervasive academic words in the field, almost certain to recur in students' reading. Moderate difficulty, but the political argument -- risking 'the League' over rivalries -- supports the sense of putting at risk. Chosen for its vocabulary-growth value.

Uncommon and rich in connotation; paired with 'weak,' it shows how Ender made others' victories look small and trivial. Good Tier 2 value and a clear excerpt make it a solid quiz-word over close alternatives.

Worth teaching for its figurative shift: 'percolated through the high command' means spread gradually upward, not the literal 'filter through.' That figurative use, a strong excerpt, and bearing on comprehension edge it past similar words.

mockery: Strong figurative excerpt and good Tier 2 value, but edged out by words with higher difficulty or comprehension weight.

tumult: Solid uncommon word for noisy commotion, but its excerpt is ordinary and it just missed stronger picks.

insolent: Good word for Bean's defiance, but overlaps thematically with stronger choices and sits in a plain excerpt.

untoward: Rare and formal, but less likely to recur in academic reading, which kept it below the line.

wary: Useful and important to the scene, but well enough known at this grade that there is less to teach.

banter: Bears on comprehension of the friends' joking, but fairly familiar and in an unremarkable excerpt.

insubordinate: Strong Tier 2 word for defiance, but its excerpt is ordinary and it lost slots to richer picks.

labyrinth: Vivid 'labyrinth of stars' image, but the meaning is fairly accessible and it just missed.

pinnacle: Concrete, craft-rich excerpt, but lower difficulty and nuance left it just below the line.

exhilarated: Rich word shown through the soldiers' high spirits, but moderate difficulty kept it among the close calls.

The book's most valuable word here: a pervasive academic term for one power's dominance over others, and the root of 'Hegemon,' a title that drives the whole political plot. Uncommon and genuinely hard for a target-grade student, with strong support across the text.

Central to the novel's moral question - the wrong of 'murdering living, sentient beings.' High comprehension value: the reader needs it to feel the weight of killing aware creatures. A strong, transferable Tier 2 word a target-grade student should own.

Pervasive academic word for a leader who whips up popular passions; Demosthenes' identity as 'the great demagogue of the Age of Locke' gives it real plot meaning. Uncommon, valuable, and tied directly to a major thread of the book.

A pervasive academic word for grinding an opponent down over time; the on-line phrase 'wear him down' makes the sense visible, and the war of attrition gives it weight. Slightly easier to infer here, but a high-value Tier 2 word worth owning.

Strong Tier 2 word for submitting completely to another's will, central to Valentine's warning that appeasers end up controlled by the power they flatter. The passage about toadying politicians supplies the sense clearly and ties the word to the book's politics.

High-value Tier 2 word for retaliation, especially in war; Mazer's warning against attacking a civilian population frames it precisely. Matters to comprehension of the climactic moral choice and recurs across academic and historical reading.

Strong Tier 2 word for unsparing honesty, anchored in the thematic heart of the ending - the Speaker for the Dead tells the truth 'with full candor, hiding no faults.' The surrounding gloss supports the sense, though that also makes it a bit easier to infer.

Uncommon, genuinely hard word for one who travels rather than settles; the closing image of Ender as 'itinerant speaker for the dead' wandering world to world embodies it perfectly. Memorable excerpt and a transferable Tier 2 word.

Advanced word for a society's educated, intellectual class; the contrast between Demosthenes' 'influence with the mob' and Locke's with 'the intelligentsia' defines it and ties it to the brothers' strategy. Hard and worthwhile for a target-grade student.

Vivid word for being wiped utterly out of existence, landing at the emotional climax - the 'real world he had blasted into oblivion.' Captures the enormity of the xenocide; a useful, transferable Tier 2 word in a memorable sentence.

fastidious: A finely crafted image of waterbirds' careful steps; just missed on comprehension importance against a strong field.

vestigial: The hardest science word here and it recurs, but its throwaway 'antennae' line carries low comprehension weight.

apathy: Valuable, very common-in-academia word, but lower difficulty and a minor role here kept it just below the line.

inscrutable: Strong Tier 2 word for a face that reveals nothing, but the excerpt is brief; edged out by deeper-comprehension words.

fiat: Hard, valuable word clarified by 'persuasion rather than fiat,' but lower comprehension stakes left it just below the line.

conciliatory: Strong peace-seeking word supported by 'pacific' and 'empathic,' but lower comprehension stakes than the chosen words.

vertigo: Vivid dizziness in the sloping tunnels, but narrower in academic use and less central than the chosen words.

exigencies: Advanced word in Graff's memorable legal defense, but the bare 'exigencies of war' excerpt is too thin to teach from well.

misgivings: Good word for uneasy doubt and it recurs, but ordinary in difficulty and not pivotal to comprehension here.

derisive: Useful word for mocking, contemptuous speech, but an incidental insult; weaker excerpt than the selected field.