Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
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Definition of Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
A line from the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. An officer of the palace guard says this after the ghost of the dead king appears, walking over the palace walls.
QUIZ
WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?
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Question 1 of 7
Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.
notes for Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” is used to describe corruption or a situation in which something is wrong.
Words nearby Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
Somerville, something, something else, something else again, something in the wind, Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, something like, something of a, something or other, something tells me, sometime
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.