What Words did Shakespeare Invent?

Hundreds of words and phrases in English are often credited to William Shakespeare as being first introduced or at least first recorded. It’s hard to prove he invented every one of them, but his works are the earliest known written examples we have.

Famous words attributed to Shakespeare:
Assassination
Bedroom
Lonely
Majestic
Obscene
Radiance
Swagger
Zany
Verbs and creative forms
To gossip (popularized in a new sense)
To elbow (used as a verb)
To champion (as a verb)
Fun or unusual ones
Addiction (originally meant strong inclination)
Eyeball
Fashionable
Manager
Uncomfortable

Shakespeare also coined famous phrases still used today, such as:

“Break the ice”
“Wild-goose chase”
“Heart of gold”
“In a pickle”
“Green-eyed monster” (for jealousy)

A big reason he could do this is because English wasn’t standardized in the late 1500s–early 1600s. Writers like Shakespeare had a lot of freedom to experiment, combine words, and turn nouns into verbs.

 

Easton Press Editions

  A Midsummer Night's Dream - The Collector's Library of Famous Editions - 1967

  Hamlet - The Collector's Library of Famous Editions - 1967

  Romeo and Juliet - The Collector's Library of Famous Editions - 1968

  The Tempest - The Collector's Library of Famous Editions - 2001

  The Histories - 100 Greatest Books Ever Written - 2008

  The Tragedies - 100 Greatest Books Ever Written - 2008
  The Comedies - 100 Greatest Books Ever Written - 2008 

  Hamlet - 100 Greatest Books Ever Written - 2008
  Midsummer Night's Dream - 100 Greatest Books Ever Written - 2008
  Romeo and Juliet - 100 Greatest Books Ever Written - 2008

 

  William Shakespeare Poems - Library of Poetry

  The Complete Works in 39 Volumes, including titles:
King Lear
Titus Andronicus
Twelfth Night
The Taming of the Shrew
The Comedy of Errors
Much Ado About Nothing
Anthony and Cleopatra
The Tempest
Timon of Athens
Julius Caesar
Troilus and Cressida
As You Like It
Macbeth
All's Well That Ends Well
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Winter's Tale
Coriolanus
The Merchant of Venice
Pericles
Othello
Measure for Measure
King John
A Midsummer Nights Dream
Romeo and Juliet
The Poems of William Shakespeare I
The Poems of William Shakespeare II
Cymbeline
Hamlet
Love's Labour's Lost
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Henry the Fourth I
Henry the Fourth II
Henry the Fifth
Henry the Sixth I
Henry the Sixth II
Henry the Sixth III
Henry the Eighth
Richard the Second
Richard the Third

  Shakespeare of London - Marchette Chute - 1988
  Tales From Shakespeare - Charles and Mary Lamb - 1996

Franklin Library Editions

  Six Tragedies - 100 Greatest Books of All Time - 1975

  Eight Comedies - 100 Greatest Books of All Time -1978
  Works of William Shakespeare - Great Books of the Western World - seven volumes 1978 to 1983
  Poems - World's Best Loved Books - 1980
  Poems - 100 Greatest Books of All Time - 1980

  Greatest Tragedies  - Oxford Library of The World's Greatest Books - 1981
  Six Histories - 100 Greatest Books of All Time - 1981
  Six Tragedies - World's Best Loved Books - 1982

  Greatest Histories  - Oxford Library of The World's Greatest Books - 1983
  Seven Comedies - World's Best Loved Books - 1983

  Greatest Comedies - Oxford Library of The World's Greatest Books - 1985

 

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