William Shakespeare was many things—playwright, poet, actor, businessman—but he was also, whether intentionally or not, one of the most prolific word-makers in the history of the English language. Open any Shakespeare play and you’ll encounter words and phrases so familiar that it seems impossible they didn’t exist before he wrote them down. Yet according to the historical record, Shakespeare either invented these words outright or was the first to commit them to writing. His linguistic creativity has shaped how we speak four centuries after his death.
The Scale of Shakespeare’s Contribution
Estimates vary, but scholars credit Shakespeare with introducing somewhere between 1,700 and 2,000 words to the English language. Some of these he likely invented from scratch. Others he may have borrowed from spoken language, slang, or other languages, becoming the first to use them in writing. Still others he created by combining existing words, adding prefixes and suffixes, or transforming one part of speech into another.
What’s remarkable is how many of these words stuck. We don’t just find them in dusty academic texts—we use them daily, in casual conversation, in business emails, in text messages. Shakespeare’s coinages have become so fundamental to English that removing them would leave gaping holes in our vocabulary.
Words You Didn’t Know Were Shakespeare’s
Many Shakespearean coinages are so ordinary that their origin surprises people.
Lonely – Before Shakespeare, English had “alone” but not this adjectival form expressing the feeling of solitude. He first used it in “Coriolanus.”
Generous – While derived from Latin roots, Shakespeare was apparently the first to use this word in English, in “Love’s Labour’s Lost.”
Hurry – Hard to imagine English without this urgent little word, but Shakespeare seems to have introduced it in “The Comedy of Errors.”
Bedroom – A compound that seems obvious now, but someone had to put “bed” and “room” together first. Shakespeare did it in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Uncomfortable – The negation of comfortable, first appearing in “Romeo and Juliet.”
Gossip – While the word existed earlier meaning “godparent,” Shakespeare transformed it into its modern sense of idle chatter in “The Comedy of Errors.”
Words for Emotions and States of Mind
Shakespeare needed vocabulary to express the complex inner lives of his characters, and he created words to do it.
Gloomy – The atmosphere of many a tragedy required this word, which Shakespeare first used in “Titus Andronicus.”
Lacklustre – Meaning dull or lacking brilliance, debuting in “As You Like It.”
Jaded – Now meaning weary or cynical, first appearing in “Henry VI, Part 2.”
Amazement – While “amaze” existed, Shakespeare gave us the noun form in “The Tempest.”
Excitement – The state of being excited, from “Hamlet.”
Dishearten – To discourage or dispirit, from “Henry V.”
These words filled gaps in the emotional vocabulary of English, allowing more precise expression of human psychological states.
Words of Insult and Criticism
Shakespeare’s characters needed ways to attack each other verbally, and he obliged with creative insults and criticisms.
Eyeball – Yes, this common anatomical term appears first in “The Tempest.” Shakespeare’s villains needed something to threaten.
Cold-blooded – Originally describing literal temperature, Shakespeare used it metaphorically to suggest emotional coldness or cruelty in “King John.”
Barefaced – Meaning shameless or undisguised, from “Hamlet.”
Addiction – The state of being given over to a habit, from “Othello.”
Assassination – While “assassin” existed, Shakespeare created the abstract noun in “Macbeth” for the killing of King Duncan.
Rant – The act of speaking wildly, from “Hamlet.”
Words of Action and Description
Physical actions and descriptive terms also flowed from Shakespeare’s quill.
Swagger – To walk with an arrogant air, from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Bump – A simple word for a jolt or collision, from “Romeo and Juliet.”
Obscene – While derived from Latin, Shakespeare introduced it to English in “Richard II.”
Zany – Meaning comically unconventional, from “Love’s Labour’s Lost.”
Arch-villain – The supreme villain, from “Timon of Athens.”
Champion (as a verb) – To defend or support, from “Macbeth.”
Compound Words and Combinations
Shakespeare excelled at smashing words together to create new meanings.
Break up (in the sense of ending) – “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Bloodstained – “Titus Andronicus”
Birthplace – “Coriolanus”
Eyesore – “The Taming of the Shrew”
Fairyland – “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Moonbeam – “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Watchdog – “The Tempest”
These compounds seem so natural that we forget someone had to create them.
Phrases That Became Everyday Expressions
Beyond individual words, Shakespeare coined countless phrases we still use.
“Wild goose chase” – Originally describing a type of horse race, now meaning any hopeless pursuit, from “Romeo and Juliet.”
“Heart of gold” – From “Henry V,” describing someone of genuine kindness.
“Break the ice” – To overcome initial awkwardness, from “The Taming of the Shrew.”
“Wear your heart on your sleeve” – To show emotions openly, from “Othello.”
“All that glitters is not gold” – From “The Merchant of Venice,” warning against superficial appearances.
“Good riddance” – Expression of relief at departure, from “Troilus and Cressida.”
“Love is blind” – From “The Merchant of Venice.”
“In a pickle” – In a difficult situation, from “The Tempest.”
“Knock knock! Who’s there?” – The original knock-knock joke format, from “Macbeth.”
How Did He Do It?
Shakespeare used several techniques to create new words.
Adding prefixes and suffixes – Taking existing words and adding “un-,” “dis-,” “-less,” “-ness,” “-ful,” etc. to create new forms.
Changing parts of speech – Turning nouns into verbs or adjectives into nouns. “Elbow” becomes a verb meaning to push. “Dwindle” transforms from adjective to verb.
Combining words – Creating compounds like “bedroom,” “eyeball,” and “watchdog.”
Borrowing and adapting – Taking words from Latin, French, Italian, and transforming them into English forms.
The Question of Attribution
It’s worth noting that Shakespeare may not have invented all these words from nothing. He might have heard them in spoken language, dialect, or slang and simply been the first to write them down. The written record preserves what spoken language often doesn’t, so Shakespeare gets credit for words that might have been circulating orally before he used them.
Additionally, many texts from Shakespeare’s era have been lost. He might have read words in works that no longer survive. Attribution to Shakespeare sometimes means “the first recorded instance we can find,” not necessarily “invented by Shakespeare.”
But even if Shakespeare merely popularized existing words rather than inventing them outright, his contribution remains enormous. By putting these words into memorable dramatic contexts—famous speeches, beloved characters, oft-quoted scenes—he ensured their survival and spread.
Why Shakespeare’s Words Lasted
Many writers coined words that vanished without a trace. What made Shakespeare’s stick?
His plays remained in constant performance. Unlike novels that might be read once and forgotten, Shakespeare’s works were performed repeatedly over centuries, keeping his language in active use.
The words filled genuine needs. Shakespeare didn’t invent words arbitrarily but found names for concepts that people wanted to express. “Lonely” captures something real. “Generous” describes an important human quality. These words survived because they were useful.
Literary prestige helped. As Shakespeare came to be regarded as the greatest writer in English, his vocabulary acquired an authority that aided adoption.
Conclusion
Every day, without knowing it, you speak Shakespeare. When you describe feeling lonely, call someone generous, say something is uncomfortable, complain about a gloomy day, or dismiss something as an eyesore, you’re using vocabulary that a playwright first put on paper four hundred years ago.
Shakespeare didn’t just write great plays—he expanded the English language’s capacity for expression. He gave us words for emotions, actions, and ideas that we couldn’t articulate as precisely without him. His linguistic creativity lives on not in museums or academic papers but in the everyday speech of hundreds of millions of English speakers who have never read a word he wrote.
That is perhaps his most democratic legacy. You don’t need to attend a production of Hamlet to benefit from Shakespeare’s genius. You just need to speak English.
