Definition of Red herring
a believable distraction designed to mislead, often used in mystery novels
Examples of Red herring in a sentence
Sherlock Holmes warned that if a case was solved too easily, it was likely a red herring that distracted the detectives from the real criminal. 🔊
Mystery writers often use a red herring to mislead the reader into believing something is important that has nothing to do with the story. 🔊
The criminal planted drugs in his enemy’s car as a red herring to lead the police away from him. 🔊
Detectives thought the mysterious jewelry found at the scene of the crime was an important clue, but it was nothing more than a red herring. 🔊
Often politicians will use a controversial subject as a red herring to distract the media from important issues that they would rather not address. 🔊
Other words in the Books and Reading Material category:
Most Searched Words (with Video)
