The Last Leaf Vocabulary and Key Terms

A complete set of vocabulary words and character terms derived from O. Henry's 'The Last Leaf' transcript.

District

Area of town

Prowling

Sneakily searching

Congenial

Friendly and pleasant

Colony

New community

Ravager

Cause of destruction

Chivalric

Knightly code

Duffer

Inexperienced person

Mastiff

Large dog breed

Morbid

Unhealthy interest or dark and grim

Flibbertigibbet

Talkative person

Quaint

Old-fashioned charm

Attics

Roof spaces

Pewter

Grey metal

Squatty

Short and stout

Solicited

Formally asked

Congested

Crowded or blocked

Epidemic

Widespread disease

Excess

More than needed

Scoffed

Mocked or laughed at

Fanciful

Imaginative and unreal

Persisted

Continued to exist

Janitor

Building cleaner

Palette

Paint mixing board

Fluttered

Moved lightly

"Places"

Small strips of streets in a district west of Washington Square that run crazy and make strange angles and curves

Johnsy

Familiar name for Joanna, a young artist from California who suffers from pneumonia

Sue

A young artist from Maine who shares a joint studio with Johnsy

Behrman

A failure in art who lived on the ground floor and eventually painted his masterpiece to save Johnsy

Pneumonia

A cold, unseen stranger and ravager that stalked about the colony, touching victims with icy fingers

Table d'hôte

The setting at an Eighth Street "Delmonico's" where Sue and Johnsy first met

Masterpiece

Something Behrman had been always about to paint for forty years, which turned out to be the last ivy leaf on the wall

Bay of Naples

The location Johnsy hoped to paint some day