| \SKAR-uh-mouch, -moosh\ | noun
1. (lowercase) a rascal or scamp.
2. a stock character in commedia dell'arte and farce who is a cowardly braggart, easily beaten and frightened. | | Quotes | …it seemed that the scaramouch in question had gained a wonderful ascendency over almost everybody in the Jeroboam.
-- Herman Melville, Moby Dick, 1851 | | Origin | | Scaramouch entered English in the 1600s from the Italian scaramuccia literally meaning "skirmish." It is ultimately of Germanic orign. | |
