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View synonyms for poltroon

poltroon

[ pol-troon ]

noun

  1. a wretched coward; craven.

    Synonyms: dastard



adjective

  1. marked by utter cowardice.

poltroon

/ pɒlˈtruːn /

noun

  1. an abject or contemptible coward
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


adjective

  1. a rare word for cowardly
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Words From

  • pol·trooner·y noun
  • pol·troonish adjective
  • pol·troonish·ly adverb
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Word History and Origins

Origin of poltroon1

1520–30; earlier pultrowne, pultron, poultroone < Middle French poultron < Old Italian poltrone idler, coward, derivative of poltro foal < Vulgar Latin *pulliter, derivative of Latin pullus young animal; foal
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Word History and Origins

Origin of poltroon1

C16: from Old French poultron, from Old Italian poltrone lazy good-for-nothing, apparently from poltrīre to lie indolently in bed, from poltro bed
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Example Sentences

Joe tried to grab him with the boathook, but it was useless, and the unhappy poltroon's body was whirled away.

"Then you have been playing the poltroon," he says savagely.

He insulted you, and then he behaved like a poltroon down at Silverbridge, and I will not have you know him any more.

But I can't consent to pass for a fool; and still more not for a poltroon—You'll excuse the little hint.'

My error—and I 'll not forgive myself in haste for it—was the belief that an upstart need not of necessity be a poltroon.

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