poltroon
/pɒlˈtɹuːn/
"poltroon" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“poltroon” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An ignoble or total coward; a dastard; a mean-spirited wretch.
Corpus desk
Index EN-poltroon · poltroon · English
poltroon · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | poltroon |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɒlˈtɹuːn/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “poltroon” in English
Rare enough to double-check
poltroon is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /pɒlˈtɹuːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An ignoble or total coward; a dastard; a mean-spirited wretch.".
No misspelling variants are generated for poltroon in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French poltron, from Italian poltrone. The correct English form is poltroon, spelled P-O-L-T-R-O-O-N.
Definition
- 1An ignoble or total coward; a dastard; a mean-spirited wretch.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how poltroon appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Patience is for poltroons, such as he: He durst not sit there, had your father lived.
For the Devil’s a Coward in Nature, A pitiful sorry Poltroon; If you take but the Whip, he’ll give you the Slip; And before you can lash him, he’ll run.
Etymology
From Middle French poltron, from Italian poltrone.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.