Scaramouch
Americannoun
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a stock character in commedia dell'arte and farce who is a cowardly braggart, easily beaten and frightened.
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(lowercase) a rascal or scamp.
noun
Etymology
Origin of Scaramouch
First recorded in 1662; from French Scaramouche, from Italian Scaramuccia, proper noun use of scaramuccia “skirmish” (applied in jest); see origin at skirmish ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The girls are, however, secretly assisted in their amours by Scaramouch, the doctor's man, who is himself a rival of Harlequin, Cinthio's valet, for the hand of Mopsophil, duenna to the young ladies.
From The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III by Montague Summers
Lapet, the very prince of cowards; in the French drama, La Capitan, Metamore, and Scaramouch.
From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
Various gay masqueraders, interrupted by return of the Doctor, are carried by Scaramouch behind the curtain.
From The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Joseph Addison
But this sham being discovered, Scaramouch runs off with the candles and all slip away in the darkness and confusion, leaving him to return in his shirt as newly risen from bed.
From The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III by Montague Summers
Pasquariel comes gently behind him, and taps time on his shoulders—this throws Scaramouch into a panic.
From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 2 by Isaac Disraeli
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
