Scaramouch

[ skar-uh-mouch, -moosh ]

/ ˈskær əˌmaʊtʃ, -ˌmuʃ /

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

1655–65; < French Scaramouche < Italian Scaramuccia, proper use of scaramuccia skirmish (applied in jest); of Germanic orig.

The great foreign chemist, Professor Scaramouch, has the credit of the discovery.

Loss and Gain |John Henry Newman
As Scaramouch is riding through the forest on his donkey, a thunderstorm suddenly comes on.

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature, Vol. II (of 6): The Romantic School in Germany |Georg Brandes
Scaramouch entreats the audience to change its mind, but to no purpose; thunder they will have.

Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature, Vol. II (of 6): The Romantic School in Germany |Georg Brandes
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

And that scaramouch of a schooner that the Frenchman gave us, in his charity?

Afloat And Ashore |James Fenimore Cooper

Scaramouch

/ (ˈskærəˌmaʊtʃ, -ˌmuːtʃ) /

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

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