- goodlyadjectiveChapter 1 →
Considerable in size or amount; also used to mean respectable or virtuous in appearance. In this text it describes something impressively large or admirable in a old-fashioned sense.
- staffnounChapter 1 →
A walking stick or rod carried as a travel aid or symbol of authority. In this story the staff has a serpent carved on it and carries supernatural significance.
- meetinghousenounChapter 1 →
A building used for public worship by Puritan congregations, serving as the center of religious and community life in colonial New England towns.
- errandnounChapter 1 →
A specific task or mission a person is sent or goes to carry out. Here it refers to Brown's mysterious and morally troubling nighttime purpose in the forest.
- devilishadjectiveChapter 1 →
Of or relating to the devil; wicked or sinful in a way associated with Satan. Used to characterize the dark, evil nature of the journey and its participants.
- catechismnounChapter 1 →
A summary of religious doctrine in question-and-answer form, used to instruct members of a Christian congregation, especially children, in the basics of their faith.
- communionnounChapter 2 →
A Christian sacrament commemorating the Last Supper, or more broadly, a close spiritual fellowship with God or a religious community. Here it is darkly inverted as initiation into the devil's congregation.
- wretchedadjectiveChapter 2 →
Deeply unhappy, miserable, or morally degraded. Used to describe the spiritual and emotional ruin that overtakes Brown after his night in the forest.
- blasphemousadjectiveChapter 2 →
Showing contempt or disrespect for God or sacred things. Describes the sacrilegious nature of the devil's ceremony and the words spoken at it.
- fiendnounChapter 2 →
A devil or demon; a person of great wickedness. Used in this text to refer to Satan or his followers gathered in the forest.
- convertsnounChapter 2 →
People who have been brought over to a new religion or belief. Here used ironically for those being initiated into the devil's service at the forest gathering.
- sepulchrenounChapter 2 →
A burial tomb or grave, often one cut from rock or built of stone. Used in this text to evoke death, decay, and the darkness lurking beneath outwardly pious lives.
- loathadjectiveChapter 1 →
Strongly reluctant or unwilling to do something. Describes Brown's hesitation and resistance as he is drawn deeper into the evil forest gathering.
- pine knotnounChapter 2 →
A dense, resin-filled section of a pine tree, historically used as a torch because it burns brightly. In this text it provides the eerie, flickering light at the devil's ceremony.
- wickednessnounChapter 2 →
The quality of being morally very wrong or evil. A central thematic word used repeatedly to describe the sinful nature of the forest gathering and its participants.
Young Goodman BrownShort story by Nathaniel Hawthorne