Shakespeare

Or Shak·spere,

[sheyk-speer]

noun

1. William, the Bardthe Bard of Avon, 1564–1616, English poet and dramatist.

Shakespeare

/ ˈʃeɪkspɪə /

noun

1. William. 1564–1616, English dramatist and poet. He was born and died at Stratford-upon-Avon but spent most of his life as an actor and playwright in London. His plays with approximate dates of composition are: Henry VI, Parts I–III (1590); Richard III (1592); The Comedy of Errors (1592); Titus Andronicus (1593); The Taming of the Shrew (1593); The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594); Love's Labour's Lost (1594); Romeo and Juliet (1594); Richard II (1595); A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595); King John (1596); The Merchant of Venice (1596); Henry IV, Parts I–II (1597); Much Ado about Nothing (1598); Henry V (1598); Julius Caesar (1599); As You Like It (1599); Twelfth Night (1599); Hamlet (1600); The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600); Troilus and Cressida (1601); All's Well that ends Well (1602); Measure for Measure (1604); Othello (1604); King Lear (1605); Macbeth (1605); Antony and Cleopatra (1606); Coriolanus (1607); Timon of Athens (1607); Pericles (1608); Cymbeline (1609); The Winter's Tale (1610); The Tempest (1611); and, possibly in collaboration with John Fletcher, Two Noble Kinsmen (1612) and Henry VIII (1612). His Sonnets, variously addressed to a fair young man and a dark lady, were published in 1609

Other Word Forms

• pre-Shakespeare adjective

Example Sentences

She clutched my arm tightly at every visit, sharing her terror that she would lose her prodigious memory—she was able to recite long passages of Shakespeare—and end, undignified, in a nursing home.

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“Masquerade” is more firmly tethered to the source material than “Sleep No More” was to Shakespeare’s play.

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No need for movies, the opera, Shakespeare, or Sondheim.

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“The Fate of Ophelia” describes a lover whose devotion saved Swift from meeting the same bleak end as Shakespeare’s doomed character in “Hamlet.”

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Few fall experiences around the country can beat a picnic and a Shakespeare play under the stars, but fear not if you find outdoor tickets sold out: The intimate, indoor theater is lovely, too.

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