Scaramouch

American  

[skar-uh-mauch, -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  

/ ˈskærəˌmaʊtʃ, -ˌmuːtʃ /

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); see origin at skirmish ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Scaramouch

This does not divert me; Nor nothing will, till Scaramouch return, And bring me News of Cinthio.

From The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III by Montague Summers

Ere long little plays called drolls were exhibited; puppet shows such as "Pickle Herring," or the "Taylor ryding to Brentford," or "Harlequinn and Scaramouch."

From Customs and Fashions in Old New England by Alice Morse Earle

Scaramouch is the necromancer's man, and the comic scenes, although the stage tricks are old, prove very good pantomime.

From The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III by Montague Summers

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

Besides these, there was also a comic drama, in which some personages not unlike punch and his wife, Bandemeer and Scaramouch performed capital parts.

From Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey through the Country from Pekin to Canton by Sir John Barrow

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