scarlet pimpernel
Red-flowered wild herb
A scarlet pimpernel is a small wildflower with red or orange petals that close in cloudy weather, giving it the folk name "poor man's weatherglass." The Scarlet Pimpernel is also the title character of a 1905 adventure novel—a mysterious English nobleman who rescues French aristocrats from the guillotine while hiding behind a foppish disguise.
The name has come to mean any elusive rescuer or escape artist: He was the scarlet pimpernel of the resistance, spiriting dissidents across the border.
Late-1700s republican upheaval
- guillotineVertical beheading apparatus
- aristocracyRule by hereditary elite
- Reign of TerrorRevolutionary mass execution period
- RobespierreRevolutionary who devoured himself
Bastille · emigres · counter-revolutionary · Ancien Régime · Louis XVI · Marie Antoinette · Jacobins · National Assembly
French feminine name
- disguiseIdentity-concealing alteration
- dual identityHaving two distinct selves
- fopVain male clotheshorse
- dandyFashion-obsessed gentleman
cloak-and-dagger · adventure · romance · intrigue · espionage · rescue · nobility · England
Uncultivated flowering plant
- petalsColored bloom segments
- bloomFlower or flourishing state
- meadowGrassy field for grazing
- groundcoverLow plants blanketing soil
hedgerow · orange · pollination · stamen · inflorescence · biennial · germination · cultivation
Beyond easy comprehension
- hiddenKept out of sight
- secret identityUndisclosed true self
- incognitoWith identity concealed
- untraceableImpossible to follow back
enigmatic · shadowy · covert · clandestine · veiled · cryptic · cunning · disguised
French Revolution
Late-1700s republican upheaval
- guillotineVertical beheading apparatus
- aristocracyRule by hereditary elite
- Reign of TerrorRevolutionary mass execution period
Robespierre · Bastille · emigres · counter-revolutionary · Ancien Régime · Louis XVI · Marie Antoinette · Jacobins · National Assembly · Versailles
Marguerite
French feminine name
- disguiseIdentity-concealing alteration
- dual identityHaving two distinct selves
- fopVain male clotheshorse
dandy · cloak-and-dagger · adventure · romance · intrigue · espionage · rescue · nobility · England · Paris
wildflower
Uncultivated flowering plant
groundcover · hedgerow · orange · pollination · stamen · inflorescence · biennial · germination · cultivation · botany
mysterious
Beyond easy comprehension
- hiddenKept out of sight
- secret identityUndisclosed true self
- incognitoWith identity concealed
untraceable · enigmatic · shadowy · covert · clandestine · veiled · cryptic · cunning · disguised · anonymous
valor
Courage in danger
rescue · daring · fearless · intrepid · savior · champion · defender · protector · noble · knightly
- Red Flowersred poppy, red clover, Indian paintbrush, poinsettia, anthurium
- wildflowersblack-eyed Susan, black-eyed Susans, daisy, buttercup, bluebonnets
- weedsdandelion, crabgrass, thistle, nettles, ragweed
- primrosesprimrose, primula, cowslip, polyanthus
scarlet pimpernelRobespierre
Revolutionary who devoured himself
revolutionary tribunal · executioner · denouncer · sans-culottes · informer