Scaramouch

or Scar·a·mouche

[ skar-uh-mouch, -moosh ]

noun

a stock character in commedia dell'arte and farce who is a cowardly braggart, easily beaten and frightened.
(lowercase) a rascal or scamp.

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

Words Nearby Scaramouch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Scaramouch in a sentence

He played Acres and Scaramouch to full houses, the receipts on the first night being 84l., and on the second 87l.
Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi | Joseph Grimaldi
Scaramouch, skar′a-mowch, n. a buffoon: a bragging, cowardly fellow.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) | Various
There was also a very good harlequin, and as good a Scaramouch.
The Memoirs of the Louis XIV. and The Regency, Complete | Elizabeth-Charlotte, Duchesse d'Orleans
The third artist that I looked over was Fantasque, dressed like a Venetian Scaramouch.
Essays and Tales | Joseph Addison
The great foreign chemist, Professor Scaramouch, has the credit of the discovery.
Loss and Gain | John Henry Newman

British Dictionary definitions for Scaramouch

Scaramouch

Scaramouche

/ (ˈskærəˌmaʊtʃ, -ˌmuːtʃ) /

noun

a stock character who appears as a boastful coward in commedia dell'arte and farce

Origin of Scaramouch

C17: via French from Italian Scaramuccia, from scaramuccia a skirmish

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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