The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Red-Headed League, List 2

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.

This list covers vocabulary from "I trust that I am not more dense..." to the end of the story.

Here is the link to List 1.
15 words 0 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. 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 Encyclopædia down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me.
  2. deference
    a courteous expression of esteem or regard
    “Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right,” said the stranger with deference.
  3. labyrinth
    complex system of paths in which it is easy to get lost
    We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit streets until we emerged into Farrington Street.
  4. tenacious
    stubbornly unyielding
    “He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone.”
  5. vulnerable
    susceptible to attack
    “You are not very vulnerable from above,” Holmes remarked as he held up the lantern and gazed about him.
  6. suffice
    be adequate, either in quality or quantity
    A few seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again and put his glass in his pocket.
  7. bullion
    gold or silver in bars or ingots
    “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.”
  8. protrude
    extend out or project in space
    For a minute or more the hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor.
  9. aperture
    a usually small man-made opening
    Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge.
  10. 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.
  11. ingenious
    showing inventiveness and skill
    The method was no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingenious mind by the colour of his accomplice’s hair.
  12. accomplice
    a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan
    The method was no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingenious mind by the colour of his accomplice’s hair.
  13. ascertain
    learn or determine by making an inquiry or other effort
    I was ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind.
  14. unfeigned
    not pretended; sincerely felt or expressed
    “You reasoned it out beautifully,” I exclaimed in unfeigned admiration.
  15. ennui
    the feeling of being bored by something tedious
    “It saved me from ennui,” he answered, yawning.
Created on Tue May 05 14:02:01 EDT 2026 (updated Tue May 26 12:19:04 EDT 2026)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.