"much ado about nothing" meaning in All languages combined

See much ado about nothing on Wiktionary

Phrase [English]

IPA: /mʌtʃ əˈduː əˈbaʊt ˈnʌθɪŋ/ Audio: En-au-much ado about nothing.ogg [Australia] Forms: much adoe about nothing [alternative]
Etymology: First appears c. the early 1500s, and first found in The Defense of the Aunswere to the Admonition, against the Replie of T. C., a pamphlet (1574) by John Whitgift (Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 to 1604). Made popular and particularly known from the title of the comedy play Much Ado About Nothing (1598) by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare had earlier used ado (“business, activity”) in the play Romeo and Juliet (1592) Weele keepe no great adoe, a Friend or two, though it is now frequently used to mean fuss as a contraction of the phrase here; nothing in the title of the play is a wordplay which can also mean noting (“to notice”) besides the usual meaning of nothing. Head templates: {{en-head|phr}} much ado about nothing
  1. (idiomatic) A lot of fuss or bother about something trivial. Wikipedia link: Archbishop of Canterbury, John Whitgift, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare Tags: idiomatic Translations (a lot of fuss over a trivial matter): ye más el ruxíu que l'agua del ríu (Asturian), много шум за нищо (mnogo šum za ništo) (Bulgarian), 瞎折騰 /瞎折腾 (xiā zhēteng) (Chinese Mandarin), hora porodila myš (Czech), mnoho povyku pro nic (Czech), bouře ve sklenici vody (Czech), multa bruo pri nenio (Esperanto), paljon melua tyhjästä (Finnish), beaucoup de bruit pour rien (French), cacarexar moito e non poñer ovo (Galician), viel Lärm um nichts (German), viel Geschrei und wenig Wolle (German), sok hűhó semmiért (Hungarian), duifean mór ar bheagán fearthainne (Irish), glór mór ar bheagán cúise (Irish), mórán cainte ar bheagán cúise (Irish), tanto rumore per nulla (Italian), 空騒ぎ (karasawagi) (alt: からさわぎ) (Japanese), (robić) wiele hałasu o nic (Polish), z dużej chmury mały deszcz (Polish), tempestade em copo d'água (Portuguese), tempestade num copo d'água (Portuguese), мно́го шу́ма из ничего́ (mnógo šúma iz ničevó) (Russian), muckle adae anent naething (Scots), mòran othail air beagan cùis (Scottish Gaelic), mucho ruido y pocas nueces [colloquial] (Spanish), mycket väsen för ingenting (Swedish)

Alternative forms

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          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
          "word": "viel Lärm um nichts"
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          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
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          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
          "word": "sok hűhó semmiért"
        },
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          "lang": "Irish",
          "lang_code": "ga",
          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
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          "code": "ga",
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          "lang_code": "ga",
          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
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          "code": "ga",
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          "lang_code": "ga",
          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
          "word": "mórán cainte ar bheagán cúise"
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          "lang_code": "it",
          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
          "word": "tanto rumore per nulla"
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          "alt": "からさわぎ",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "lang_code": "ja",
          "roman": "karasawagi",
          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
          "word": "空騒ぎ"
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          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
          "word": "(robić) wiele hałasu o nic"
        },
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          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
          "word": "z dużej chmury mały deszcz"
        },
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          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "lang_code": "pt",
          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
          "word": "tempestade em copo d'água"
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          "code": "ru",
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          "roman": "mnógo šúma iz ničevó",
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          "word": "mòran othail air beagan cùis"
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          "lang": "Spanish",
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          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
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          "word": "mucho ruido y pocas nueces"
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          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "lang_code": "sv",
          "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
          "word": "mycket väsen för ingenting"
        }
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      "code": "ast",
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      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
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      "lang": "Bulgarian",
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      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "много шум за нищо"
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      "code": "cmn",
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      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "xiā zhēteng",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "瞎折騰 /瞎折腾"
    },
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      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "lang_code": "cs",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "hora porodila myš"
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      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "lang_code": "cs",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "mnoho povyku pro nic"
    },
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      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "lang_code": "cs",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "bouře ve sklenici vody"
    },
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      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "lang_code": "eo",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "multa bruo pri nenio"
    },
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      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "paljon melua tyhjästä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "beaucoup de bruit pour rien"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "lang_code": "gl",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "cacarexar moito e non poñer ovo"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "viel Lärm um nichts"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "viel Geschrei und wenig Wolle"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "sok hűhó semmiért"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "lang_code": "ga",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "duifean mór ar bheagán fearthainne"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "lang_code": "ga",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "glór mór ar bheagán cúise"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "lang_code": "ga",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "mórán cainte ar bheagán cúise"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "lang_code": "it",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "tanto rumore per nulla"
    },
    {
      "alt": "からさわぎ",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "lang_code": "ja",
      "roman": "karasawagi",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "空騒ぎ"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "(robić) wiele hałasu o nic"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "z dużej chmury mały deszcz"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "tempestade em copo d'água"
    },
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      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "tempestade num copo d'água"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "mnógo šúma iz ničevó",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "мно́го шу́ма из ничего́"
    },
    {
      "code": "sco",
      "lang": "Scots",
      "lang_code": "sco",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "muckle adae anent naething"
    },
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      "code": "gd",
      "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
      "lang_code": "gd",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "mòran othail air beagan cùis"
    },
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      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "word": "mucho ruido y pocas nueces"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "sense": "a lot of fuss over a trivial matter",
      "word": "mycket väsen för ingenting"
    }
  ],
  "word": "much ado about nothing"
}

Download raw JSONL data for much ado about nothing meaning in All languages combined (6.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-10-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (1a05e46 and e3d6d4e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.