Vocabulary from Otherborn: Untenable

wondrous memeWelcome to Wondrous Words Wednesday!  Visit Kathy at Bermudaonion.net for more interesting words.

This week, I’m featuring a word from the YA novel Otherborn by Anna Silver.  Anna will be here on Friday explaining how Otherborn is different from other dystopians.  (When I read Otherborn, I was happy not to find a choosing ceremony of some kind.)  Come back to see what she has to say and enter her giveaway!

Otherborn_Tour jpeg

 

Here’s a little about Anna’s book:

Confined within Capital City’s concrete walls, London keeps an impossible secret: she dreams. And she’s not alone. Her friends are seeing themselves in “night pictures” too, as beings from another world. Together they uncover the story of their avatars, astral shamans they call Otherborn.

Now, on to the Word Nerd Word.

In this passage, London, the protagonist of Otherborn, describes the home of one of her friends.

The upper stories of Zen’s bank had the glass blown out from a storm years ago, rendering one third of the complex unlivable.  It gave her the distinct feeling of squatting under a ghost town when she was there.  A sensation she found untenable.

untenable \un-‘ten-ə-bəl\ adj, from Latin and Old French tenir to hold; not able to be defended or occupied (untenable apartments)

Word Nerd Workout

Use untenable in your own sentence.  My example:

The soldiers shuffled around with dread and waited for the enemy to attack the untenable position.

Thanks for getting nerdy with me today!

Julia 

Julia Tomiak
I believe in the power of words to improve our lives, and I help people find interesting words to read. Member of SCBWI.

16 Comments

  1. Julia, I’m so glad I found you through Nicole. I think I may be a word nerd too. I will be back on Friday to hear about Otherborn – sounds intriguing! I’ll use the vocabulary word next time; I’m just too tired to put together a cohesive sentence right now!

    1. Dana, it’s great to meet you too! I love connecting with other Word Nerds! I totally understand the fatigue thing- my brain doesn’t function well after 8pm. Thanks for stopping by.

    1. Jennifer, when Anna approached me about doing a guest post for her blog tour, I remembered your comment about another dystopian book I featured- you basically asked if it was the “same old thing.” Anna does a great job of explaining how her book is different- and it definitely is. Come back Friday! Hope you’re well.

  2. Ha — part of the problem of my WIP right now is why the bad guys would attack the good guys from a position that seems untenable. I think I have the motivation figured out (it’s a feint and a distraction). But physically setting up the scene when I can’t visualize it puts me in an untenable position as a writer!

      1. The situation with his work environment was full of strife and quickly became untenable. He had to leave.
        It’s a Dave Ramsey word too when he talks about financial situations for people. That’s where I’ve heard it most often.

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