Desdemona

[ dez-duh-moh-nuh ]

/ ˌdɛz dəˈmoʊ nə /

(in Shakespeare's Othello) Othello's wife, murdered by her husband as a result of jealousy instilled by Iago.

QUIZZES

Nourish your vocabulary with a refresher on the words from the week of September 14–20, 2020!

Question 1 of 7

What does “blatherskite” mean?

Maggie Smith was Desdemona, the victim of circumstance, in the 1965 Othello adaptation.
Shakespeare’s Movie Magic|Marina Watts, Malcolm Jones|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So let us be, with our Desdemona of rights, unlike Othello “that loved not wisely, but too well.”
P.J. O’Rourke: Who Really Actually Wants This Bill of Rights?|P. J. O’Rourke|April 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Desdemona, providentially finding employment at a Detroit mosque, witnesses the founding of the Nation of Islam.
American Dreams: “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides|Nathaniel Rich|November 29, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Their hit song, "Desdemona," was famously banned by the BBC thanks to Bolan's lyric, Lift up your Skirt and Fly.
'T-Rex' Will Never Be Extinct|Simon Doonan|August 13, 2010|DAILY BEAST

I make no doubt Othello was quite right, and Desdemona was no better than she should be.
Ernest Maltravers, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton
It is a serious matter, and if we do not want to play the Desdemona act we must take some timely precautions.
Remarks|Bill Nye
Desdemona would have found him out if she had lived, you know.
Heartbreak House|George Bernard Shaw
His poor mother gazed at him with extravagant envy and, like Desdemona, wished heaven had made her such a man.
The Real Thing and Other Tales|Henry James
The Seraph had turned fatalist and was being squeezed nearer and nearer the "Desdemona."
The Sixth Sense|Stephen McKenna