Vocabulary List #23: 3/16/98
| affectation | the act of displaying an attitude of behavior not genuinely felt |
| agape | wide open; with the mouth open in surprise |
| agility | being able to move with a quick, easy grace |
| amorous | fond of loving; full of love or desire |
| apostasy | abandonment of previous loyalty or principles |
| attenuate | to lessen the amount, force, value of; to thin or dilute |
| aural | of or related to the ear or sense of hearing |
| autonomous | having the right or power of self-government; without outside control |
| carrion | dead or putrefying flesh |
| construe | to understand the intent of; to infer or deduce |
| corrugated | folded into parallel ridges to create a wavy surface |
| crevasse | a deep crack or fissure; a break on a glacier |
| cygnet | a young swan |
| demise | death; the transfer of an estate by will or death |
| demur | delay, hesitate; to take exception, object |
| disreputable | not respectable; discreditable |
| enigmatic | puzzling, obscure |
| factitious | artificial; produced by man rather than nature |
| genesis | a beginning, origin, creation |
| hegira | any journey or exodus for safety; flight |
| immutable | not capable of or susceptible to change; fixed |
| impending | about to happen; imminent; to hover or hang threateningly |
| infernal | of or relating to hell; wicked |
| ingenuous | showing innocent or child-like simplicity; candidness; natural |
| intrepid | characterized by fearlessness, fortitude, and endurance |
| leaven | to produce fermentation by means of yeast or other ferment |
| mediocre | average; ordinary |
| obtrude | to thrust oneself forward to gain attention |
| pilfer | to steal in small quantities often again and again |
| thwart | to oppose successfully; frustrate |