Selected Short Stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Red-Headed League

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Jabez Wilson is invited to join an elite professional society, but when the group suddenly disbands, Wilson wonders if he's been the victim of a joke. He asks detective Sherlock Holmes to investigate. Read the full text here.

Here are links to our lists for other works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Five Orange Pips
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. florid
    inclined to a healthy reddish color
    I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair.
    The florid face of the gentleman matches his hair. Its color has little to do with outdoor life (since Mr. Wilson admits to being a "very stay-at-home man") than with the enjoyment of eating, which descriptions of the character emphasize with the following synonyms for "fat": stout, portly, obese, thick.
  2. cordially
    in a politely friendly manner
    “You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Watson,” he said cordially.
  3. judicial
    expressing careful judgment
    “Try the settee,” said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in judicial moods.
  4. embellish
    add details to
    “I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own little adventures.”
    Although "relish" is used as a noun ("vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment") and "embellish" is a verb, both words suggest that Watson adds spice to his humdrum life by sharing in the adventures of Holmes; then he adds details to his written records of these cases to make them more exciting and attractive to readers.
  5. endeavor
    attempt by employing effort
    As he glanced down the advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance.
  6. pompous
    puffed up with vanity
    Our visitor bore every mark of being an average commonplace British tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow.
  7. chagrin
    strong feelings of embarrassment
    Altogether, look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and discontent upon his features.
  8. nominal
    insignificantly small; a matter of form only
    On account of the bequest of the late Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a salary of £4 a week for purely nominal services.
    "Nominal" also means "relating to a name"--this definition is not intended by the example sentence, but it could have been suggested by the author. Especially since the name was created by a couple of ingenious thieves in the story, it could be significant. One possibility is an allusion to the 17th century Irish bishop Ezekiel Hopkins, who wrote about the vanity of the world (which the Red-Headed League con played on).
  9. berth
    a position in an organization or event
    He was himself red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; so, when he died, it was found that he had left his enormous fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of that colour.
  10. dejected
    affected or marked by low spirits
    There was a double stream upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found ourselves in the office.
  11. propagation
    the act of producing offspring
    The fund was, of course, for the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their maintenance.
  12. comply
    act in accordance with someone's rules, commands, or wishes
    You don’t comply with the conditions if you budge from the office during that time.
  13. hoax
    something intended to deceive
    Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its object might be I could not imagine.
    "Hoax" and "fraud" can be synonyms, but here they are used to refer to different degrees of deceit. A hoax can be a playful joke whose deceit is meant to entertain (similar to the hocus-pocus of magic tricks), while a fraud is meant to gain an advantage through someone else's loss. Wilson suspected he was being tricked, yet he bought the foolscap (a size of paper used in Britain that has a watermark of a fool's cap).
  14. rueful
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
    Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so completely overtopped every other consideration that we both burst out into a roar of laughter.
  15. grievance
    a complaint about a wrong that causes resentment
    “As far as you are personally concerned,” remarked Holmes, “I do not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some £30, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have gained on every subject which comes under the letter A.
  16. introspective
    given to examining own sensory and perceptual experiences
    I observe that there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is introspective, and I want to introspect.
  17. stagnant
    not growing or changing; without force or vitality
    It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line of fine shops and stately business premises that they really abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square which we had just quitted.
  18. conundrum
    a difficult problem
    A sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums.
  19. relentless
    never-ceasing
    All the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was possible to conceive.
  20. astuteness
    the intellectual ability to penetrate deeply into ideas
    In his singular character the dual nature alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally predominated in him.
    The structure of the sentence suggests that "extreme exactness and astuteness" are unlikely to be found in someone who often falls into poetic and thoughtful moods. But these opposing qualities exist in Holmes, which serve to relax and stretch his mind so that he can solve cases that have stumped others.
  21. languor
    inactivity; showing an unusual lack of energy
    The swing of his nature took him from extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his black-letter editions.
  22. askance
    with suspicion or disapproval
    Then it was that the lust of the chase would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals.
  23. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed copier of the Encyclopaedia down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me.
  24. tenacious
    stubbornly unyielding
    He is as brave as a bulldog and as tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone.
    These similes sound flattering, but both compare Jones to inhuman creatures. Additionally, they come after this insulting observation: "He is not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession." Thus, Holmes describes the Scotland Yard police agent as being brave and stubborn because he's doing his job in a stupid way.
  25. imperil
    pose a threat to; present a danger to
    “You have already imperilled the whole success of our expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?”
  26. solemn
    dignified and somber in manner or character
    The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones.
  27. divine
    perceive through some inexplicable perceptive powers
    We are at present, Doctor—as no doubt you have divined—in the cellar of the City branch of one of the principal London banks.
  28. misgiving
    uneasiness about the fitness of an action
    Our reserve of bullion is much larger at present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the directors have had misgivings upon the subject.
  29. compunction
    a feeling of deep regret, usually for some misdeed
    If they fire, Watson, have no compunction about shooting them down.
    Compare this noun with "misgiving" and the adjective "rueful"--all connect to uneasiness about an action. While "rueful" refers to a completed action, "misgiving" and "compunction" can refer to both completed and possible actions. Here, Holmes makes this statement, because he knows that, as a doctor sworn to save lives, Watson might have compunction about shooting people down.
  30. distinguish
    mark as different
    My limbs were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note of the bank director.
  31. lithe
    moving and bending with ease
    In another instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face and a shock of very red hair.
  32. ingenious
    showing inventiveness and skill
    The method was no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingenious mind by the colour of his accomplice’s hair.
  33. rogue
    a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
    They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the week.
    Similar to "hoax" this noun can have a lighter meaning ("a playfully mischievous person")--this applies to the rogues' creation of the Red-Headed League, but it does not apply to Clay's murders, thefts, smashings, and forgeries. A definition no longer used today describes a rogue as a wandering beggar--the wandering part fits, but the beggar part would not, since Clay was born into a rich and noble family.
  34. unfeigned
    not pretended; sincerely felt or expressed
    “You reasoned it out beautifully,” I exclaimed in unfeigned admiration.
  35. ennui
    the feeling of being bored by something tedious
    “It saved me from ennui,” he answered, yawning.
Created on Tue May 13 14:10:23 EDT 2014 (updated Mon Aug 06 15:13:46 EDT 2018)

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