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Here is a word that Dr Watson uses regularly to describe the villains in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In particular, this is how he described Mr Woodley, the abductor, in “The Solitary Cyclist” and Mr Milverton, the blackmailer, in “Charles Augustus Milverton”.
Odious – extremely unpleasant and revulsive
Usage: “That odious man, Mr Woodley.”
I’m sure I’ve come across this word in other readings or at least once when I was in school, but I could not remember what it meant. I found it while reading Speaking in Bones. I had to look it up.
Antediluvian – of or belonging to the time before the Biblical Flood; ridiculously old-fashioned
Usage: “I still keep hard copy on all my cases. Antediluvian, but there you have it.”
Though the context is not pleasant, this word is a fun word to know and use on occasion. I was reminded of it while reading Speaking in Bones.
Odoriferous – having or giving off a smell, especially an unpleasant or distinctive one
Usage: “I reached up, slid the box free, and carried it to the “stinky room”, a small autopsy suite with special ventilation to accommodate the more odoriferous dead.”
I found this word a few times in Speaking in Bones, and I had to look it up. Though I could guess the meaning by the context, it’s not a word I see often so I wanted to be sure.
Truncating – to shorten the duration or extent of
Usage: “A door opened, releasing the whine of an autopsy saw cutting through bone. Closed abruptly, truncating the sound.”
Update: Truncate is also used in this quote from The Dictionary of Lost Words.
Another word from “The Dancing Men” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is “Nettled”. The context made me believe the word must mean something like perturbed, and I was not wrong.
Nettled – irritated or annoyed
Usage: After stating that he would not call Holmes’ methods simple once explained, Dr Watson still cried, “How absurdly simple!”
“Quite so!” said [Holmes], a little nettled. “Every problem becomes very childish when once it is explained to you.”
Here is a fun word used to describe Holmes’ chemical experiment in “The Dancing Men” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Poor Dr Watson had to put up with many such experiments during his time with Holmes in the Baker Street rooms.
Malodorous – smelling very unpleasant
Usage: “Holmes had been seated for some hours in silence with his long, thin back curved over a chemical vessel in which he was brewing a particularly malodorous product.”
In a book about a forensic anthropologist, you are sure to come across scientific words that are not part of your everyday vocabulary. This word, from Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs, is just such a word.
Edentulous – lacking teeth
Usage: “The unknown [skeleton] was edentulous.”
This word should be self explanatory. I found it in Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs.
Southernism – an attitude or trait characteristic of the South or Southerners especially in the US
Usage: “Another Southernism. Hitch the phrase “bless her heart” to its bumper, and any slur becomes mannerly.”
No, this is definitely not a mushroom. When Holmes used this word in “The Norwood Builder” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, I could guess the vague meaning, but Merriam-Webster gives an exact meaning.
Foolscap – a size of paper formerly standard in Great Britain
Usage: Perhaps I shall get the credit also at some distant day, when I permit my zealous historian to lay out his foolscap once more – eh, Watson?”
This is a curious word from “The Norwood Builder” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I couldn’t figure it out from the context, and I am very sure I’ve never heard it before. But after I found the definition, the context makes perfect sense.
Inanition – exhaustion caused by lack of nourishment
Usage: “I have known him presume upon his iron strength until he has fainted from pure inanition.”
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