Words and phrases coined by William Shakespeare
English poet, playwright and actor William Shakespeare is considered the greatest writer in the English language.
His plays, sonnets and long narrative poems have shaped modern storytelling and more than 450 years later his plays are still performed more often than works from any other playwright.
Works like Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth and Hamlet are well known – but what many people don’t necessarily realise is that Shakespeare was an imaginative inventor of words.
He’s credited with inventing over 1700 in his lifetime, many we still regularly use today.
Take a look at our list of some of the most interesting and popular words and phrases coined by Shakespeare, and the works they came from.
Obscene
From Love’s Labours Lost, Act I, Scene i
Arch-villain
From Timon Of Athens, Act V, Scene i.
Eventful
From As You Like It, At II, Scene Vii.
Fashionable
From Troilus And Cressida, Act III, Scene iii.
Manager
From A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, Scene i.
Negotiate
From Much Ado About Nothing, Act II, Scene i.
Torture
From King Henry VI, Part II, Act II, Scene i.
Mimic
From A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii.
Hobnob
From Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene iv.
As good luck would have it
From The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act III, Scene v.
The be-all and end-all
From Macbeth, Act I, Scene vii.
Devil incarnate
From Titus Andronicus, Act V, Scene i.
For goodness’ sake
From Henry VIII, Act I, Scene i.
Heart of gold
From Henry V, Act 4, Scene i.
Love is blind
From the Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Scene vi.
Wild goose chase
From Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene iv.
A Sorry Sight
From Macbeth, Act 2, Scene ii.
Good riddance
From The Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Scene vii.
What’s done is done
From Macbeth , Act 3, Scene ii.
There’s method in my madness
From Hamlet, Act 2, Scene ii.
All of a sudden
From The Taming of the Shrew, Act 1, Scene i.
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