- greasersnounChapter 1 →
A working-class street gang from the East Side, named for the grease they use in their hair; in this story they are the rivals of the wealthier Socs.
“We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we're wilder, too. Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks”
- SocsnounChapter 1 →
Short for Socials, the wealthy West Side teenagers who are the Greasers' rivals; they are seen as privileged and often violent toward the lower-class kids.
“Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for …”
- beer blastsphraseChapter 1 →
Large, rowdy parties centered on drinking beer; used here to show that the Socs' wild behavior is excused or even celebrated because of their wealth.
“Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks”
- editorialsnounChapter 1 →
Opinion articles published in a newspaper, written by its editors; here they represent the public attention and sympathy the Socs receive that the Greasers never do.
“get editorials in the paper for …”
- switchbladenounChapter 1 →
A pocket knife with a blade that springs out automatically when a button is pressed; a common weapon carried by gang members in this story.
- jumpedverbChapter 1 →
Attacked suddenly and without warning, usually by a group; a common act of gang violence in this story.
- petnounChapter 1 →
Someone who is treated with special tenderness and protectiveness by a group; here it means Johnny is looked after and cherished by the whole gang.
“Johnny was the gang's pet. Everybody's kid brother.”
- reckonverbChapter 1 →
To think or suppose something; an informal, regional way of saying 'I believe' or 'I guess,' common in Southern and working-class American speech.
“I reckon we're wilder, too.”
- hoodsnounChapter 6 →
Short for hoodlums; young men considered dangerous troublemakers or petty criminals by society, seen as a step below even the Greasers in respectability.
“Greasers are almost like hoods; I didn't think they went around saving people's lives.”
- I'd just as soonphraseChapter 2 →
An expression meaning 'I would prefer not to' or 'I would rather not'; a polite but firm way of declining something.
“I'd just as soon not, if you don't mind.”
- pationounChapter 3 →
A paved outdoor area attached to a house, used for relaxing; its mention here signals the Socs' comfortable, middle-class lifestyle compared to Ponyboy's back steps at a gas station.
“It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps of the gas station were the same one.”
- bleakadjectiveChapter 7 →
Offering no hope or comfort; a cold, empty feeling of despair with no sign that things will improve.
“I had the same bleak feeling I had had the night Dally and I had sat in the waiting room at the hospital when Johnny was hurt”
- whipverbChapter 7 →
To defeat thoroughly in a fight; to beat the other side so completely that there is no question about who won.
“"I mean, even if we whip you all, it doesn't do any good."”
- shallowadjectiveChapter 7 →
Lacking depth of thought or feeling; concerned only with surface appearances and not capable of real understanding or empathy.
“Randy was supposed to be the shallow Soc. I was supposed to be the one who understood things.”
- tough outer shellphraseChapter 6 →
The hard, emotionless front a person puts up to hide their true feelings of fear or vulnerability; a protective mask of toughness.
“It was the first time I had seen him without his tough outer shell and it scared me.”
- paralyzedadjectiveChapter 7 →
Unable to move part or all of the body due to injury or damage to the spine or nerves; here it refers to the permanent loss of movement Johnny faces after his back is broken.
- rumblenounChapter 9 →
A planned, large-scale fistfight between two rival gangs, fought in an agreed location; the outcome is meant to settle a dispute between the groups.
- stay goldphraseChapter 9 →
A plea to keep one's innocence, wonder, and goodness in the face of a hard world; drawn from the Frost poem and used to urge Ponyboy not to let life make him bitter or cruel.
“Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold.”
- desperateadjectiveChapter 10 →
Driven by hopelessness to reckless or dangerous action; having nothing left to lose and acting wildly as a result.
“Dally didn't die a hero. He died violent and young and desperate, just like we all knew he'd die someday.”
- hearingnounChapter 11 →
A formal legal proceeding, less than a full trial, where a judge listens to the facts of a case and decides what should happen to the person involved.
“I was supposed to be at a hearing that would decide whether I'd be put in a boys' home or not.”
- boys' homenounChapter 11 →
A state-run institution where boys who have no suitable family or who are in trouble with the law are sent to live under supervision; a form of juvenile detention or foster care.
“I was supposed to be at a hearing that would decide whether I'd be put in a boys' home or not.”
- acquittalnounChapter 12 →
An official legal decision that a person is not guilty and will face no punishment; the judge formally clears the accused of all charges.
- denialnounChapter 12 →
A mental state in which a person refuses to accept a painful truth, such as a death or loss, because accepting it is too overwhelming.
- huenounChapter 5 →
A shade or variety of a color; here used in the Frost poem to describe the rare, fleeting color of the first new leaves of spring.
“Nature's first green is gold, / Her hardest hue to hold.”
The OutsidersNovel by S. E. Hinton