Parolles (3 syl.). A man of vain words, who dubs himself “captain,” pretends to knowledge which he has
not, and to sentiments he never feels. (French, paroles, a creature of empty words.) (Shakespeare: All's
Well that Ends Well.)
“I know him a notorious liar,
Think him a great way fool, solely a coward;
Yet these fixed evils sit so fit on
him
That they take place ...”
Act i. 1.
He was a mere Parolles in a pedagogue's wig. A pretender, a man
of words, and a pedant. The allusion is to the bragging, faithless, slandering villain mentioned above.
“Rust, sword; cool, blushes; and, Parolles, live
Safest in shame; being fooled, by fooling thrive;
There's place
and means for every man alive.”
Shakespeare: All's Well that Ends Well, iv. 3.
