poltroon \pol-TROON\, noun:
1. A wretched coward; craven.
adjective:
1. Marked by utter cowardice.
By heavens, if, under the circumstances of the provocation which you gave him, and his whole family, he would be as mean and cowardly a poltroon as I find you be...”
-- William Carleton, Valentine M'Cultchy, the Irish Agent
“Poltroon, my dear, poltroon!” Moloch put in. “He has no sense of decency, no respect—for me, or for anything. He's a vulgar, coarse fool.”
-- Henry Miller, Moloch
Poltroon originally came from the Latin pullus meaning “young animal.” It came to mean an idler or coward in Old French.
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