101 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Why Write 101 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?

With the tsunami that is the Harry Potter book craze subsiding, I thought it was time to take a look at one of the critiques of the J.K. Rowling series.

In various places on the web, I have read that HP books are not literature, and what a shame it is that our kids are reading these books instead of more classic children’s literature.

I started reading the HP series because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I have read my share of books – good and bad, classic literature, and dime store novels. I have also read a large number of books that are considered to be “classics” in children’s literature.

In my initial response to the HP naysayers, I wrote Keep a Child Reading: The Post-Harry Potter Book List.

In addition, I would like to share with parents, educators, and homeschoolers a list of 100 stellar vocabulary words drawn directly from the pages of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

These vocabulary words include strong action verbs, descriptive adjectives, and some words that are just useful to know.

Kids can use their favorite dictionary, online or off, to look up the meanings of these words. Homeschooling parents and educators could use them in lessons.

The main reason I compiled this list is because I have enjoyed a long, intimate love affair with words. As a writer and a reader, I keep lists of words that strike me. Here is my list from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Note: please forgive the fact that I did not include page numbers, as I did not originally compile the list for publication, but for my own use.

101 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The 101 words are broken down into lists of 10, with one bonus word at the end. Each list of 10 could be used one vocabulary lesson.

1-10 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

admonitions
affably
amicably
amidst
awed
baubles
besotted
bespectacled
bellowed
billowing

11-20 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

brandishing/brandished
bravado
brooded
brusquely
bustled
chortled
contemptuous
convulsively
copse
crestfallen

21-30 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

culminating
dawdled
deluded
delved/delve
dejected
detained
derisive
disentangling
disgruntled
disquiet

31-40 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

dodgy
doss
enfolded
enigmatic
enmity
extricated
flamboyant
furtively
genial
gleaned

41-50 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

glowered
grudgingly/grudging
guffawing
guttering
hoisted
hurtled
impassive
incautious
incensed
indignation

51-60 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

inseparable
inkling
inscrutable
jeered
jiggered
jostling
lavishly
lurking
mead
miniscule

61-70 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

motley
mullioned
mutinous
mutter
nicked
notorious
oblige
onerous
prat
quivering

71-80 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

rallied
regaling
reminiscently
remonstrated
rummaging
sallow
scowling
seething
severed
singed

81-90 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

snarling
snigger/sniggered
sopping
splutter
squalid
stupefied
succumbed
surly
surreptitiously
swilled

91-100 Middle School Vocabulary Words from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

tarnished
throttle
topple
transfigured
twittering
unfathomable
warbling
wreaked
writhing
wryly

Word 101:

zoomed

Students can also look for these words while reading the book.