Words Shakespeare Invented

The English language owes a great debt to Shakespeare. He invented over 1700 of our
common words by changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting
words never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes, and devising words
wholly original. Below is a list of a few of the words Shakespeare coined, hyperlinked to
the play and scene from which it comes. When the word appears in multiple plays, the
link will take you to the play in which it first appears.
ac ad adv am
acc
ad dic erti az
us
em tio sin em
ed
e n g ent

ass
ar ass ba be
ban
ou ina cki dro
dit
se tio ng om
n

blo
be birt
be bla od
ac hpl
smi nke sta
he ac
rch t ine
d e
d

ba
blu bu
ref bu
shi bet zz
ac mp
ng er
ed

circ col
ch
ca um d-
cat am
ke sta blo
er pio
d ntia od
n
l ed

co
co co da
mp
urt unt criti unt
ro
shi les c les
mi
p s s
se

de dis dis
dru
da afe co hea
gg
wn nin nte rte
ed
g nt n
 eq ex
dw epil
uiv elb cit
ind ept
oc ow em
le ic
al ent

ex fas
ey fla
po hio fixt
eb we
sur na ure
all d
e ble

ge gre
glo
fru ner gos en-
om
gal ou sip ey
y
s ed

ho im
gu hin hur
bn pe
st t ried
ob de

im inv lac
pa uln jad lab klu
rtia era ed el ste
l ble r

lau
lug lus
gh lon low
gag tro
abl ely er
e us
e

met
ma
ma ma am mi
rke
dc jest orp mi
tab
ap ic hiz c
le
e

mo
mo mo noi
nu neg
on unt sel
me otia
be ain es
nta te
am eer s
l

ob
ob
se oly out
sc od
qui mpi bre
en e
ou an ak
e
sly

pa pe pre puk rad

 me
nd da dit ian
ing
ers nt ate ce
d

re
sa
mo se
ra va scu
rse cur
nt ger ffle
les e
y
s

ski su
su sw
m bm tort
m agg
mil erg ure
mit er
k e

tra un va
unr vari
nq dre ulti
eal ed
uil ss ng

wo
gn
rthl za gro
arl
es ny vel
ed
s

For more words that Shakespeare coined please see the Comprehensive
Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Dr. Ernest Klein (1966) or
Shakespeare-lexicon: A Complete Dictionary of All the English Words, Phrases
and Constructions in the Works of the Poet by Alexander Schmidt (1902).
How to cite this article:

Mabillard, Amanda. Words Shakespeare Invented Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug.

2000. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-
online.com/biography/wordsinvented.html >.
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