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• Much Ado About Nothing
  Much Ado About Nothing

  noun

  a comedy (1598?) by Shakespeare.
• much ado about nothing
  much ado about nothing

  A big fuss over a trifle, as in Jerry had everyone running around looking for his gloves—much ado about nothing. Although this expression is best remembered as the title of Shakespeare's comedy, the phrase much ado was already being used for a big commotion or trouble in the early 1500s.

Much Ado About Nothing

American  

noun

1. a comedy (1598?) by Shakespeare.

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much ado about nothing Idioms  

1. A big fuss over a trifle, as in Jerry had everyone running around looking for his gloves—much ado about nothing. Although this expression is best remembered as the title of Shakespeare's comedy, the phrase much ado was already being used for a big commotion or trouble in the early 1500s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Much Ado About Nothing much ado about nothing

In 1967 he played Don John in a BBC studio recording of Franco Zeffirelli's famous production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2021

A meet cute, sparring enemies who become lovers, a wisecracking coterie of buddies, an outstanding amount of lying — these are elements of surefire entertainment older than Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing."

From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2018

After Batman, Keaton took a series of notably unstarry roles – a tenant from hell opposite Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine in Pacific Heights, a hammy Dogberry in Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 9, 2017

Over the next four years, he would write, produce, and act in a half-dozen stone masterpieces: Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and Hamlet.

From Slate ● Nov. 7, 2016

And it didn’t count Much Ado About Nothing, which should have counted for the whole shebang, since it advertised itself as a comedy—but let me tell you, it wasn’t.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

For U.S. shoppers hoping for relief, however, it’s looking like much ado about nothing.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2025

In a letter to members of Congress, distributed by the Supreme Court and reported on by CNN, Alito argued that the controversy was much ado about nothing.

From Salon ● May 29, 2024

Former England international John Barnes described the controversy about the colours on the St George's Cross as "much ado about nothing".

From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2024

Also much ado about nothing, he said, is the debate about where he has been lining up since he returned to camp last Friday.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 3, 2023

For instance, Raoul’s much ado about nothing comes by way of his father, a failed Shakespearean actor who gave up the dream and started a theater camp for underprivileged children.

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman