Pimpernel
Low-growing trailing plant
Pimpernel is a small flowering plant of the primrose family, typically with red, blue, or white flowers that close in cloudy weather—hence the folk name "poor man's weather-glass." The scarlet pimpernel is the most common variety.
The word gained literary fame from the Scarlet Pimpernel, a fictional hero who rescued French aristocrats during the Revolution, his identity concealed like the elusive wildflower: They sought him here, they sought him there.
Uncultivated flowering plant
- scarletBright orangish-red color
- petalsColored bloom segments
- meadowGrassy field for grazing
- hedgerowLinear shrub boundary
herbaceous · trailing · annual · perennial · blossom · bloom · red · orange
Late-1700s republican upheaval
- aristocratPerson of noble birth
- disguiseIdentity-concealing alteration
- rescueSave from harm
- guillotineVertical beheading apparatus
Marguerite · hero · swashbuckler · novel · adventure · romantic · chivalry · dashing
Hard to find
- secret agentClandestine government operative
- spyCovert information gatherer
- undercoverSecretly engaged in espionage
- clandestineConcealed from authorities
covert · escape artist · cunning · hidden identity · resistance · smuggler · evader · fugitive
Hard to find
- hard to findDifficult to locate
- slipperyLacking friction, hard-to-grasp
- uncatchableCannot be seized
- will-o-the-wispMisleading phosphorescent marsh glow
phantom · enigma · untraceable · vanishing · fleeting · mercurial · quicksilver
wildflower
Uncultivated flowering plant
hedgerow · herbaceous · trailing · annual · perennial · blossom · bloom · red · orange · blue
French Revolution
Late-1700s republican upheaval
- aristocratPerson of noble birth
- disguiseIdentity-concealing alteration
- rescueSave from harm
guillotine · Marguerite · hero · swashbuckler · novel · adventure · romantic · chivalry · dashing · nobleman
elusive
Hard to find
- secret agentClandestine government operative
- spyCovert information gatherer
- undercoverSecretly engaged in espionage
clandestine · covert · escape artist · cunning · hidden identity · resistance · smuggler · evader · fugitive · pursuit
elusive
Hard to find
- hard to findDifficult to locate
- slipperyLacking friction, hard-to-grasp
- uncatchableCannot be seized
will-o-the-wisp · phantom · enigma · untraceable · vanishing · fleeting · mercurial · quicksilver
Pimpernelrose
Stood up, or fragrant bloom
orchid · cultivar · hothouse flower · hybrid tea rose · tulip
Pimpernelsitting duck
Defenseless person or thing
easy mark · exposed · conspicuous · obvious · transparent
- scarlet pimpernelLow-growing European wildflower
- The Scarlet Pimpernel