Much Ado About Nothing

American  

noun

1. a comedy (1598?) by Shakespeare.

---

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.

---

Example Sentences

So this new crop of concerns might turn out to be much ado about nothing.

From Barron's

Conveniently elided in the script, the play was written years after the major events depicted onscreen, during which Shakespeare wrote “King John,” “The Merchant of Venice” and several other plays, including such comedies as “Much Ado About Nothing.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“I believe those are all the announcements I have, so let us get on with this glorious day. Oh! There is one more thing: All that business about wolves at Swanburne turned out to be a false alarm. In other words, much ado about nothing.”

From Literature

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

From MarketWatch

An example of a Washington much ado about nothing: The delayed seating of Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election on Sept. 23 to finish the term of her father, Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, who died in March.

From The Wall Street Journal