15 Words Invented by Shakespeare We Still Use Today ...

By Holly5 Comments

Shakespeare was not only the best play writer that ever existed, but he also created words that we still use today. He's influenced the English language a great deal, so we have a lot to thank him for. If you don't know much about the amazing writer, here are some of the words we still use today that were created by Shakespeare:

1 Eyeball

In The Tempest, Prospero uses the word "eyeball." His exact quote was, “Go make thyself like a nymph o' the sea: be subject to no sight but thine and mine, invisible to every eyeball else.”

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2 Amazement

In King John, a character simply called Bastard uses this word. He says, "To offer service to your enemy, and wild amazement hurries up and down the little number of your doubtful friends."

3 Addiction

This word was first used in Othello. It was spoken by Herald, who said, "Every man put himself into triumph [...] each man to what sport and revels his addiction leads him."

4 Blushing

In King Henry VI, York uses this word for the first time ever. He says, "If though canst for blushing, view this face and bite thy tongue."

5 Elbow

Here's another body part that Shakespeare named himself. In King Lear, Kent says, "A sovereign shame so elbows him: his own unkindness that stripp'd her from his benediction."

6 Critic

Critics loved Shakespeare, so it's not surprising he created the word. It appears in Love's Labour's Lost when Biron says, "I, that have been love's whip; A very beadle to a humorous sigh; A critic, nay, a night-watch constable."

7 Hint

This word was first used in Othello. Othello is the character who simply says, "It was my hint to speak."

8 Fashionable

In Troilus and Cressida, Ulysses uses this word for the very first time. He says, "For time is like a fashionable host that slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand."

9 Torture

This is another word that appears in King Henry VI. In it, Simpcox says, "Alas, master, I am not able to stand alone: You go about to torture me in vain."

10 Lonely

This word is from Coriolanus. Coriolanus says, "Believe't not lightly--though I go alone, like to a lonely dragon."

11 Gossip

This word appeared in a play called The Comedy of Errors. In it, Aemelia says, "Go to a gossips' feast and go with me; After so long grief, such festivity. With all my heart, I'll gossip at this feast."

12 Champion

This word was used in the famous play, Macbeth. Macbeth himself was the one to say, "Come fate into the list and champion me to the utterance!"

13 Gloomy

In King Henry VI, Joan La Pucelle uses this word. He says, "Darkness and the gloomy shade of death environ you, till mischief and despair drive you to break your necks or hang yourselves!"

14 Puking

Jaques uses this word in As You Like It. He says, "At first the infant, mewling and puking in the nurse's arms."

15 Swagger

No, this word isn't nearly as new as you thought. It was first spoken by Williams in Henry V. He said, "An't please your majesty, a rascal that swaggered with me last night."

Shakespeare's writing impacts us, even today! What's your favorite Shakespeare play?

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