Other Words for Home

1. unruly (adjective): 

not submissive or conforming to rule; ungovernable; unrestrained

“Her dark curls aren’t on display anymore, / tumbling to her shoulders / in unruly waves that remind me of laughter.” (Poem 3, Page 8)

2. treasonous (adjective):

involving betrayal of one’s country; traitorous

“He calls them treasonous and / Issa says that it is our president / Bashar al-Assad / who is treasonous, / who is oppressing his own people.” (Poem 6, Page 16)

3. posh (adjective):

rich, fancy, upper-class

“I almost laughed but / then I realized she wasn’t being funny. / She was being posh / which is an English word she taught me.” (Poem 7, Page 18)

4. manipulate (verb):

to handle or influence skillfully, typically in an unfair manner

“Those men who spill blood and manipulate the Quran to say / things that the rest of us know it does not say.” (Poem 11, Page 32)

5. deference (noun):

respectful or submissive regard

“When you walk around town, / you had better show deference to our president— / to his large picture that is in almost every shop, / and the armed guards that are now on every corner.” (Poem 13, Page 37) 

6. radicals (adjective):

people who hold extreme positions or follow strong convictions

“I ask every day if I can visit my brother, / and every day the answer is no, / until one day when my mama says / yes and walks with me the seven blocks across town to his new apartment, / which is near the university / and all of the cafés that Baba thinks are full of radicals.” (Poem 14, Page 40)

7. tapestry (noun):

a heavy fabric woven by hand with colored threads to produce a decorative design, often pictorial

“His new apartment is covered with a tapestry of mismatched rugs; / a scratched coffee table sits low to the ground / and it is covered with stacks of newspapers that have been marked up with a pen.” (Poem 14, Page 40)

8. beckon (verb):

to signal to or summon someone to approach

“The man beckons for us to step up closer.” (Poem 2, Page 63)

9. transcend (verb):

to rise above or go beyond the normal limits of something

“That is something powerful enough to transcend oceans: / a mama’s ability to say something / without actually saying it.” (Poem 5, Page 70)

10. sulking (participial adjective):

being silent or aloof in an ill-humored or resentful way

“Aunt Michelle charges ahead, / Mama and me are sandwiched in the middle, and Sarah walks slowly behind us, / sulking a little.” (Poem 6, Page 73)

11. scoffs (verb):

speaks scornfully or mockingly

“When I say this to Mama / she scoffs and tells me our town is / not that small / […]” (Poem 9, Page 80)

12. reveled (past tense verb):

enjoyed very much (usually followed by “in”)

“Pre-Jude reveled in her classmates’ attention, / but now I just want to blend in.” (Poem 2, Page 105)

13. communal (adjective):

shared in common by a group or community

“It is a communal moment I do not participate in / because once I’ve figured out what / Mr. Anderson mean by ‘homework,’ / he’s already talking about something else.’” (Poem 3, Page 106)

14. anticipation (noun):

a feeling of expectation or hope about something that is going to happen

“My whole body rings / with anticipation as I wait / for Sarah’s invitation.” (Poem 7, Page 118)

15. mosque (noun):

a building used by Muslims as a place of worship

“Mama cannot believe that / Uncle Mazin doesn’t go to mosque.” (Poem 11, Page 130)

16. plush (adjective):

luxuriant; fancy and high quality

“The theater is beautiful with a wide wooden stage / and velvet plush seats that you sink into / when you sit down.” (Poem 18, Page 153)

17. monologue (noun):

a long or dramatic speech by one person

“Everyone gets very quiet while Mrs. Bloom talks about the guidelines for the tryout: / a two-minute monologue / and a song.” (Poem 18, Page 155)

18. synonymous (adjective):

having an equivalent meaning; conveying the same idea

“Even a girl like me, / a girl who likes movies more than news, / a girl who didn’t pay / much attention to what was happening, / knows Aleppo is synonymous with war. / And death.” (Poem 21, Page 163)

19. guise (noun):

external appearance; semblance; pretense

“Like my uncle, / I am hungry to read every word I can about / Aleppo / about the families from my country / who were not as lucky as me, / who are fleeing from towns that are under siege / taken over by violent radicals / or by the government under the guise of stopping / violent radicals.” (Poem 22, Page 167)

20. wafts (verb):

to carry lightly and easily through the air

“The buttery smell of blueberry muffins / that are baking / wafts through the kitchen.” (Poem 1, Page 177)

21. hijab (noun):

a traditional head covering worn by Muslim women

“Her finger moves from Mama’s face to / point at her head, / to her hijab.” (Poem 3, Page 186)

22. audacity (noun):

boldness, brazenness, daring  

“I’ve decided it is very American / to have the audacity / to claim that three things / add up to everything.” (Poem 4, Page 192)

23. feign (verb):

to pretend; to represent falsely

“I feign ignorance and ask, Which friend?” (Poem 5, Page 196)

24. poised (adjective):

composed and self-assured in manner

“I recognize the handwriting immediately. / It is poised and neat, / because I am confident in the Arabic alphabet, / unlike my shaky form when it comes to English letters.” (Poem 10, Page 215)

25. proverb (noun):

a short well-known saying that expresses a belief held by many people

“There is an Arabic proverb that says: / She makes you feel / like a loaf of freshly baked bread.” (Poem 3, Page 238)

26. reverence (noun):

a feeling or attitude of deep admiration and respect

“People are talking all around me, / Abigail Beth Malone is whispered with reverence / and I know she is the eighth grader / who last year as a seventh grader / snagged a talking part in the musical.” (Poem 4, Page 239)

27. tang (noun):

a strong or sharp taste

“But the sour taste of jealousy / its acidic tang in my mouth / fades / the moment Layla rushes over to me / and squeezes my shoulder.” (Poem 4, Page 240)

28. sneers (verb):

to smile or laugh in a scornful or contemptuous way

“Mina doesn’t want to make sets, she sneers, / and I know she is talking about Layla, / turning her nose up at my friend.” (Poem 5, Page 241)

29. antidote (noun):

a remedy or medicine for stopping or reducing harm from a poison or disease

“I laugh a little, / which makes him smile, / which makes me think again / about how Miles is a pretty good / antidote for miles.” (Poem 6, Page 250)

30. fixated (participial adjective):

obsessed; fixedly focused (on something)

“I am upset and sad about what she tells me, / but confused why she is so fixated on the news when it happened in a city / so far away from us.” (Poem 9, Page 261)

31. reluctantly (adverb):

in a way that is unwilling or hesitant

“I sit down in the front booth / and she reluctantly sits down in front of me.” (Poem 15, Page 280)

32. ignorant (adjective):

lacking in training or awareness; unknowledgeable

“It was one ignorant person, Jude, / he says, and his Arabic is confident / and clear.” (Poem 19, Page 296)