An ignoble or total coward; a dastard; a mean-spirited wretch.
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Patience is for poltroons, such as he:He durst not sit there, had your father lived.
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c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
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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.
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1727, Daniel Defoe, edited by J. Roberts, An Essay on the History and Reality of Apparitions[1], London, Chapter 8, page 144:
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You damned poltroon, you never tried them!
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1778, George Washington, to Charles Lee following an act of insubordination:
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"To gain life by means of a breach of faith and honour, were indeed to render myself the poltroon, and the villain my accusers believe me."
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1842, Nicholas Michell, “Chapter 28”, in The Traduced: An Historical Romance[1], volume I, London: T. & W. Boone, pages 266–267:
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Strong had long understood Sir Francis Clavering’s character, as that of a man utterly weak in purpose, in principle, and intellect, a moral and physical trifler and poltroon.
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1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 38, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume , London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
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The chief said, "That was the Colonel, likely. I've been expecting him for two days. He will be up now right away."He was correct. The Colonel appeared in the door a moment afterward with a dragoon revolver in his hand.He said, "Sir, have I the honor of addressing the poltroon who edits this mangy sheet?""You have. Be seated, sir. Be careful of the chair, one of its legs is gone. I believe I have the honor of addressing the putrid liar, Colonel Blatherskite Tecumseh?""Right, Sir. I have a little account to settle with you. If you are at leisure we will begin."
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1875, Mark Twain, “Journalism in Tennessee”, in Sketches New and Old:
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The sounds outside had ceased...But somebody had been there, and she proposed to look into the matter thoroughly. There was nothing of the poltroon about Adela Shannon Cork
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1951, P. G. Wodehouse, 'The Old Reliable', London: Hutchinson, published 1981, page 162:
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First is our unbreakable rule that every candidate must be a trained trooper, blooded under fire, a veteran of combat drops. No other army in history has stuck to this rule, although some came close. Most great military schools of the past — Saint Cyr, West Point, Sandhurst, Colorado Springs didn’t even pretend to follow it; they accepted civilian boys, trained them, commissioned them, sent them out with no battle experience to command men... and sometimes discovered too late that this smart young ‘officer’ was a fool, a poltroon, or a hysteric.
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1959, Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers:
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You judas, you cow-handed poltroon, we thought you were a stallion.
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2018 Jared, "Tech Evangelist", Silicon Valley episode 42, 5 minutes