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.
Fiorelli, Tiberio of Naples, the famous Scaramouch, i.
From The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi; Volume the First by Carlo Gozzi
Mr. Davidson is still a young man; but the first of these plays, An Unhistorical Pastoral, was first printed so long ago as 1877; and the last, Scaramouch in Naxos; a Pantomime, in 1888.
From Adventures in Criticism by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
"Scaramouch," the "Sganarelle" of Molière's Festin de Pierre, was a favourite character of Joseph Grimaldi.
From The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 6 by Ernest Hartley Coleridge
Punch, Scaramouch, and Pierrot are next met by the Doctor, who invites them into a banquet.
From A History of Pantomime by R. J. Broadbent
On his return to the metropolis the old humour broke out at the representation of the inimitable Scaramouch of the Italian theatre.
From Literary Character of Men of Genius Drawn from Their Own Feelings and Confessions 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.
