dogberry
Origin of dogberry
1Words Nearby dogberry
Other definitions for Dogberry (2 of 2)
a foolish constable in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
any foolish, blundering, or stupid official.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use dogberry in a sentence
Judge dogberry ruled, "This is flat perjury to call a prince's Brother, villain."
The Trial of Theodore Parker | Theodore ParkerThese were the true successors of dogberry; often infirm or aged persons appointed to keep them out of the workhouse.
The English Utilitarians, Volume I. | Leslie StephenHow right was wise old dogberry in his dictum that reading and writing come by nature.
My Friends at Brook Farm | John Van Der Zee Searsdogberry and Verges, two ignorant conceited constables, who greatly mutilate their words.
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol 1 | The Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D.Shakspeare has, by this 'one touch of nature,' made dogberry kin to the whole world.
British Dictionary definitions for dogberry (1 of 2)
/ (ˈdɒɡˌbɛrɪ, -bərɪ, -brɪ) /
any of certain plants that have berry-like fruits, such as the European dogwood or the bearberry
the fruit of any of these plants
British Dictionary definitions for dogberry (2 of 2)
/ (ˈdɒɡˌbɛrɪ, -bərɪ, -brɪ) /
(sometimes capital) a foolish, meddling, and usually old official
Origin of dogberry
2Derived forms of dogberry
- dogberryism, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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