Words & Phrases Invented By William Shakespeare

Below are just a few examples of words and phrases commonly used in Modern English and coined (or at least first written) by the Bard.

Words:

1. accommodation
2. admirable
3. aerial
4. amazement
5. apostrophe
6. assassination
7. auspicious
8. barefaced
9. baseless
10. belongings
11. bloody
12. bump
13. castigate
14. changeful
15. clangor
16. control (noun)
17. countless
18. courtship
19. critic
20. critical
21. dawn
22. dexterously
23. dishearten
24. dislocate
25. dwindle
26. eventful
27. exposure
28. fitful
29. frugal
30. generous
31. gloomy
32. gnarled
33. hostile
34. hurry
35. ill-used
36. impartial
37. inauspicious
38. indistinguishable
39. invulnerable
40. lapse
41. laughable
42. lonely
43. long-legged
44. majestic
45. misplaced
46. monumental
47. multitudinous
48. obscene
49. ode
50. overblown
51. palmy
52. perusal
53. pious
54. premeditated
55. radiance
56. reliance
57. road
58. sanctimonious
59. seamy
60. skim milk
61. sportive
62. submerge
63. suspicious
64. watchdog

Phrases:

1. “All that glisters is not gold.” > Merchant of Venice
2. “As good luck would have it” > The Merry Wives of Windsor
3. “Baited breath”
4. “Be all / End all”
5. “Brave New World” > The Tempest, Act V, Scene 1 > Probably written 1610-1611
6. “Break the ice” > The Taming of the Shrew
7. “Breathed his last”
8. “Clothes make the man.” > Hamlet
9. “Cold comfort” > King John
10. “Come what come may” > Macbeth
11. “Dead as a doornail”
12. “Devil incarnate” > Titus Andronicus
13. “Faint hearted”
14. “Fair play” > The Tempest, Act V, Scene 1 > Probably written 1610-1611
15. “Fair play / Foul play”
16. “Fight fire with fire”
17. “For Goodness’ sake”
18. “Full circle” > King Lear, Act V, Scene 3 > Written 1605-1606
19. “The game is up”
20. “Good riddance”
21. “Green eyed monster”
22. “Heart of gold”
23. “Heart of hearts”
24. “In a pickle” > The Tempest
25. “It’s Greek to me” > Julius Caesar
26. “Knock knock! Who’s There?”
27. “A laughing stock” > The Merry Wives of Windsor
28. “Lie low”
29. “Love is blind”
30. “Makes your hair stand on end”
31. “Naked truth”
32. “Off with his head”
33. “Out of the Jaws of Death”
34. “A piece of work”
35. “Pound of flesh” > The Merchant of Venice
36. “Seen better days”
37. “Send him packing”
38. “Set your teeth on edge”
39. “So-so”
40. “A sorry sight”
41. “Such stuff as dreams are made on” > The Tempest
42. “The lady doth protest too much” > Hamlet
43. “Too much of a good thing” > As You Like It
44. “Vanish into thin air”
45. “Wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve” > Othello
46. “Wild goose chase” > Romeo and Juliet
47. “What’s done is done” > Macbeth
48. “The world is my oyster”

Sources:

1. https://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/words-shakespeare-invented/
2. https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/word-lists/list-of-words-and-phrases-shakespeare-invented.html