Much Ado
Fuss over nothing
Much ado means a great deal of fuss or commotion, often implying the reaction is disproportionate to the cause.
The phrase appears most famously in Shakespeare's *Much Ado About Nothing*, and the expression much ado about nothing remains common for situations where people overreact to trivial matters: There was much ado over the seating arrangements.
- fussAgitated, unnecessary concern
- commotionNoisy, confused disturbance
- stirMix by circling
- hubbubLoud, confused noise
- ShakespeareElizabethan dramatist and poet
make a fuss · Kenneth Branagh · Beatrice · comedy · bother · hassle · uproar · tempest · teapot · storm in a teacup · drama · ruckus · brouhaha · to-do · kerfuffle · wit · banter · merry war
- ShakespeareRomeo, Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello
- Renaissance LiteratureShakespeare, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, The Prince, Don Quixote
- Shakespeare studiesKing Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, Merchant of Venice
- Comedy FilmsShrek, Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, Easy A, Austin Powers
- theater historyGreek tragedy, vaudeville, William Shakespeare, Drury Lane, Christopher Marlowe
- WhedonverseBuffy, Buffy Summers, Angel, Spike, Willow