"The Things They Carried" Vocabulary List #1

Elusive

Skillful at evading capture

Devout

Deeply religious

Makeshift

Done or made using whatever is available

Malaria

A disease caused by parasites transmitted by mosquito bite

Ambush

Concealing yourself and lying in wait to attack by surprise

Insignia

A badge word to show official position

Artillery

Large but transportable armament

Casualty

Someone injured or killed

Comport

Behave in a certain manner

Forthrightly

Directly and without evasion; not roundabout

Deferment

Act of putting off to a future time

Reticence

The trait of being uncommunicative

Vigil

A purposeful surveillance to guard or observe

Skittish

Unpredictably excitiable

Rectitude

Righteousness as a consequence of being honorable and honest

Surreal

Characterized by fantastic and incongruous imagery

Proportion

Relation with respect to comparative quantity or magnitude

Aesthetic

Characterized by an appreciation of beauty or good taste

Ambiguity

Unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning

Mundane

Found in the ordinary course of events

Coy

Affectedly shy, especially in a playful or provocative way

Contempt

Lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike

Vouch

Give personal assurance, guarantee

Detonate

Cause to burst with a violent release of energy

Waver

Pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness