English · Idiom Historical

Much Ado about Nothing

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

Shakespeare's comedy, named from a proverbial saying of the time, and with only the slightest relevance to the plot, was probably written in 1599, and was published in 1600.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “Much Ado about Nothing” mean?

Shakespeare's comedy, named from a proverbial saying of the time, and with only the slightest relevance to the plot, was probably written in 1599, and was published in 1600.

Is “Much Ado about Nothing” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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