01675--braggadocio

Braggadocio is a cowardly but boastful man who appears as a stock character in many comedies; or the empty boasting typical of such a braggart. This sort of character was known in Greek comedy as the alazon. When he is a soldier, he is often referred to as the miles gloriosus (Vainglorious soldier) after the title of a comedy by the Roman dramatist Plautus. The most famous example in English drama is Shakespeare's Falstaff.