Scaramouch

American  

[skar-uh-mouch, -moosh] / ˈskær əˌmaʊtʃ, -ˌmuʃ /

Or Scaramouche

noun

1. a stock character in commedia dell'arte and farce who is a cowardly braggart, easily beaten and frightened.

2. (lowercase) a rascal or scamp.

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Scaramouch British  

/ -ˌmuːtʃ, ˈskærəˌmaʊtʃ /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of Scaramouch

First recorded in 1662; from French Scaramouche, from Italian Scaramuccia, proper noun use of scaramuccia “skirmish” (applied in jest); skirmish ( def. )

Example Sentences

Little plays called drolls were exhibited in the taverns and coffee-houses; such plays as Pickle Herring, Taylor riding to Brentford, Harlequin and Scaramouch.

From Stage-coach and Tavern Days by Earle, Alice Morse

Our Scaramouch is one of the numerous forms of the Captain, which obtained great popularity at Paris.

From The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi; Volume the First by Gozzi, Carlo

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 Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham

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 Disraeli, Isaac

His dress was something between that of Harlequin and Scaramouch.

From The Infernal Marriage by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield