28 Words Invented by Shakespeare | List & Meanings
William Shakespeare is one of the most important writers in the English language, famous for plays like Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet. Apart from his timeless plays, Shakespeare also invented many words that we still use in English today.
“Addiction,” “alligator,” “lackluster,” “obscene,” “unaware,” and “zany” are just a few of the words invented by Shakespeare.
How many words did Shakespeare invent?
Shakespeare used more than 20,000 words in his plays and poems, and 1,700 of these first appeared in writing in his work. This means these are words invented by Shakespeare or words that were in oral use at the time that Shakespeare introduced them into the written record.
Shakespeare invented words by playing with word structure. He combined words, changed parts of speech (e.g., making a noun into a verb), or added prefixes and suffixes to root words to create entirely new words.
For example, Shakespeare often used the prefix “-un” to form new words like “uncomfortable,” “uneducated,” and “undress.”
Words invented by Shakespeare
The words invented by Shakespeare are too long to list in one article, so below is a selection of some of the best.
1. Addiction
Part of speech: noun
Meaning: the condition of being addicted to something
Found in: Henry V, Act I, Scene 1
Since his addiction was to courses vain,
His companies unletter’d, rude and shallow,
His hours fill’d up with riots, banquets, sports,
And never noted in him any study,
Any retirement, any sequestration
From open haunts of popularity.
When Shakespeare created this word for Henry V, he meant “inclination.” Here, he’s saying that Henry had an inclination for gambling, parties, and the like. Over time, addiction came to take on its current meaning.
2. Alligator
Part of speech: noun
Meaning: a large semi aquatic reptile similar to a crocodile
Found in: Romeo and Juliet, Act V, Scene 1
3. Blushing
Part of speech: adjective or verb
Meaning: red in the face from shyness or embarrassment; becoming red in the face
Found in: Various works, including Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene 5
4. Cold-blooded
Part of speech: adjective
Meaning: without emotion or pity; denoting animals with cold blood
Found in: King John, Act III, Scene 1
Upon my party! Thou cold-blooded slave,
Hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side,
Been sworn my soldier, bidding me depend
Upon thy stars, thy fortune and thy strength,
And dost thou now fall over to my fores?
Cold-blooded originally had a purely biological meaning, but Shakespeare used it to talk about someone ruthless and cruel.
5. Critic
Part of speech: noun
Meaning: someone who judges an artistic work; someone who has an unfavorable opinion about a topic
Found in: Various works, including Love’s Labour Lost, Act III, Scene 1
6. Denote
Part of speech: verb
Meaning: to be a sign of; to indicate
Found in: Various works, including Othello, Act III, Scene 3
7. Downstairs
Part of speech: adverb, adjective or noun
Meaning: down a flight of stairs; situated on a lower floor; the lower floor
Found in: Henry IV Part 1, Act II, Scene 4
parrot, and yet the son of a woman! His industry is
upstairs and downstairs; his eloquence the parcel of
a reckoning.
Although downstairs has various parts of speech, Shakespeare used it here as an adverb to mean that the man has business everywhere.
8. Dwindle
Part of speech: verb
Meaning: diminish gradually
Found in: Henry IV, Part 1, Act III, Scene 3 and Macbeth, Act I, Scene 3
action? do I not bate? do I not dwindle? Why my
skin hangs about me like an like an old lady’s loose
gown; I am withered like an old apple-john.
Nowadays, we usually use dwindle when talking about population, supplies, or quantity (e.g., “Her savings dwindled after months of spending”). However, Shakespeare used it in both Henry IV and Macbeth to refer to people wasting away physically.
9. Elbow
Part of speech: noun and verb
Meaning: the joint between the forearm and upper arm; to push or hit someone with your elbow
Found in: Various works, including King Lear, Act IV, Scene 3
That stripp’d her from his benediction, turn’d her
To foreign casualties, gave her dear rights
To his dog-hearted daughters- these things sting
His mind so venomously that burning shame
Detains him from Cordelia.
Shakespeare is credited with inventing the verb form of elbow. Here, he uses it as a metaphor, with the shame pushing at King Lear emotionally.
10. Fashionable
Part of speech: adjective
Meaning: in style; characteristic of a current trend
Found in: Various works, including Troilus and Cressida, Act III, Scene 3
11. Green-Eyed
Part of speech: adjective
Meaning: having green eyes; envious or jealous
Found in: The Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene 2 and Othello, Act III, Scene 3
As doubtful thoughts, and rash-embraced despair,
And shuddering fear, and green-eyed jealousy! O love,
Be moderate; allay thy ecstasy,
In measure rein thy joy; scant this excess.
I feel too much thy blessing: make it less,
For fear I surfeit.
Shakespeare used green-eyed to mean jealous or envious, thus giving it a new meaning.
12. Inaudible
Part of speech: adjective
Meaning: unable to be heard
Found in: All’s Well That Ends Well, Act V, Scene 3
13. Lackluster
Part of speech: adjective
Meaning: dull; uninspired or uninspiring
Found in: As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7
And, looking on it with lack-lustre eye,
Says very wisely, ‘It is ten o’clock;
Thus we may see,’ quoth he, ‘how the world wags;
Lackluster is the American spelling, but British English uses lacklustre, closer to Shakespeare’s spelling of this word.
14. Manager
Part of speech: noun
Meaning: someone responsible for controlling a staff of other people
Found in: Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act I, Scene 2 and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, Scene 1
15. Moonbeam
Part of speech: noun
Meaning: a ray of moonlight
Found in: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene 1
16. Nervy
Part of speech: adjective
Meaning: bold or imprudent; easily agitated or nervous; vigorous or strong (archaic)
Found in: Coriolanus, Act III, Scene 1
carries noise, and behind him he leaves tears:
Death, that dark spirit, in ‘s nervy arm doth lie;
Which, being advanced, declines, and then men die.
Shakespeare used the word nervy here with the archaic meaning: vigorous or strong. He represents Death with a strong arm, implying lethal force or unwillingness to back down.
17. Obscene
Part of speech: adjective
Meaning: offensive or disgusting
Found in: Various works, including Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act IV, Scene 1
18. Rant
Part of speech: verb or noun
Meaning: speak or shout at length in an impassioned way; the speech produced by this action
Found in: Hamlet, Act V, Scene 1
19. Swagger
Part of speech: verb or noun
Meaning: to walk or behave in an arrogant and confident way; a confident and arrogant gait or manner;
Found in: Various works, including Othello, Act II, Scene 3
20. Traditional
Part of speech: adjective
Meaning: consisting of or derived from past practices or established conventions; passed down over time
Found in: Richard III, Act III, Scene 1
Too ceremonious and traditional
Weigh it but with the grossness of this age,
You break not sanctuary in seizing him.
Shakespeare uses the word traditional here to show that the Duke of Buckingham believes Richard III to be too concerned with tradition and ceremony.
21. Unaware
Part of speech: adjective
Meaning: not aware; ignorant
Found in: Venus & Adonis
22. Uncomfortable
Part of speech: adjective
Meaning: feeling discomfort; causing discomfort
Found in: Romeo & Juliet, Act IV, Scene 5
23. Undress
Part of speech: verb or noun
Meaning: to take off one’s clothes; the state of being partially clothed
Found in: The Taming of the Shrew, Prologue 2
24. Unearthly
Part of speech: adjective
Meaning: unnatural or mysterious
Found in: The Winter’s Tale, Act III, Scene 1
For most it caught me, the celestial habits,
Methinks I so should term them, and the reverence
Of the grave wearers. O, the sacrifice!
How ceremonious, solemn and unearthly
It was i’ the offering!
In this scene, Dion is speaking with Cleomenes about their recent trip to Delphos to consult with the Oracle. Shakespeare uses the word unearthly to show that Dion found Delphos supernatural or mysterious.
25. Varied
Part of speech: adjective or verb
Meaning: incorporating many elements; to differ in nature
Found in: Various works, including Titus Andronicus, Act III, Scene 1
26. Worthless
Part of speech: adjective
Meaning: having no value or use
Found in: Various works, including The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act I, Scene 1
27. Yelping
Part of speech: verb or adjective
Meaning: sharply or shrilly barking; characterized by that sound
Found in: Various works, including Henry VI Part 1, Act IV, Scene 2
Out, some light horsemen, and peruse their wings.
O, negligent and heedless discipline!
How are we park’d and bounded in a pale,
A little herd of England’s timorous deer,
Mazed with a yelping kennel of French curs!
Lord Talbot likens the French army to “curs,” small, annoying dogs that make a yelping sound.
28. Zany
Part of speech: adjective or noun
Meaning: amusingly unconventional or eccentric; a person who is zany
Found in: Love’s Labour Lost, Act V, Scene 2
- One fell swoop: doing something suddenly or all at once, often in a dramatic way
- Elbow room: adequate space to move or work in
- Eat out of house and home: to eat a lot of the food in someone’s house
- Wild goose chase: a foolish and hopeless pursuit of something unattainable
- Faint-hearted: lacking courage
- Laughing stock: a person or thing subjected to mockery and ridicule
Frequently asked questions about words invented by Shakespeare
- How many plays did Shakespeare write?
-
Shakespeare wrote 39 plays according to most sources. Some sources may cite a different number due to doubts about authorship.
From these works, we got about 1,700 words invented by Shakespeare.
If writing about Shakespeare, make sure you don’t make any spelling or grammar mistakes with QuillBot’s Grammar Checker.
- How many sonnets did Shakespeare write?
-
Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets. Most of them are written in iambic pentameter.
From these works, the English language received many words invented by Shakespeare.
If you’re writing about Shakespeare or sonnets, use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to make sure your text is error-free.
- When was Shakespeare alive?
-
Shakespeare lived from April 23, 1564, to April 23, 1616. While these dates aren’t completely certain, they are commonly accepted.
During his lifetime, he wrote many plays and sonnets that are still considered among the best today. The English language also gained about 1,700 words invented by Shakespeare.
Use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to find any spelling or grammar errors when writing about Shakespeare.
