pilgarlic

[ pil-gahr-lik ]

noun

1. a person regarded with mild or pretended contempt or pity.
2. Obsolete. a baldheaded man.

pilgarlic

/ pɪlˈɡɑːlɪk /

noun

1. obsolete.
   a bald head or a man with a bald head
2. dialect.
   a pitiable person

Other Words From

• pil·garlick·y adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pilgarlic¹

1520–30; earlier pyllyd garleke literally, peeled garlic, originally metaphor for a bald man, whose head is compared to a peeled garlic bulb. See pill ², garlic

Word History and Origins

Origin of pilgarlic¹

C16: literally: peeled garlic

Example Sentences

It was in vain that he argued with his wife in all known languages and in some that are unknown, for, as she said, she only knew two languages, the one of Touraine and the other of the Stick, and this second she taught Panurge per modum passionis—that is by beating him, and this so thoroughly that poor Pilgarlic was sore from head to foot.

From Project Gutenberg

The stately white swans turned their arching necks interrogatively toward the splashing, and the brown ducks, Peezletree and Pilgarlic, quacked and gobbled softly to each other among the lily-pads.

From Project Gutenberg

The light one shall be Peezletree and the dark one Pilgarlic.

From Project Gutenberg

Apparently, all the negro cooks, teamsters, officers' servants, and roustabouts from the adjoining camps39 had been gathered there, with Groundhog, Pilgarlic, and similar specimens of the white teamsters among them and leading them.

From Project Gutenberg

"Seen the ghost of a dead rebel, Pilgarlic?"

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• figure of fun
• laughingstock
• object of ridicule