bardolatry

American  

[bahr-dol-uh-tree] / bɑrˈdɒl ə tri /

noun

1. great or excessive adoration of or reverence for William Shakespeare.

   I crossed the line into bardolatry halfway through my thesis on the psyche of Lady Macbeth.

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bardolatry British  

/ bɑːˈdɒlətrɪ /

noun

1. facetious  idolatry or excessive admiration of William Shakespeare

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Usage

What does bardolatry mean? Bardolatry is the extreme idolization of William Shakespeare, whose nickname is “the Bard of Avon” or simply “the Bard.”A bard is a poet. Shakespeare (1564–1616) was an English poet and playwright who wrote some of the most famous works of all time, such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth. He is probably the most studied writer in history, and many people consider him the greatest. Bardolatry is used negatively to criticize what is seen as an over-emphasis on Shakespeare.Bardolatry was the Dictionary.com Word of the Day on April 23, 2019!Example: You can blame bardolatry for the way a lot of English departments ignore other writers and instead focus massive amounts of attention on Shakespeare.

Other Word Forms

• bardolater noun
• bardolator noun
• bardolatrous adjective

Etymology

Origin of bardolatry

Coined by George Bernard Shaw in 1901; bard ¹ ( def. ) + -o- ( def. ) + -latry ( def. )

Example Sentences

Such alarm might come off as the musical theater version of bardolatry, the word coined to describe an overly worshipful attitude toward Shakespeare.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s not hard, in a country that felt an atavistic hunger for saints and sanctification, to grasp the need for such bardolatry.

From New York Times

Shakespeare’s current status is often described as “bardolatry,” an excessive veneration of the man marked by elaborate myths about who he was and what he really accomplished.

From Salon

These numbers also hint at the term George Bernard Shaw created for excessive worship of Shakespeare: bardolatry.

From Time