dogberry

¹

[ dawg-ber-ee, -buh-ree, dog- ]

noun

, plural dog·ber·ries.

1. the berry or fruit of any of various plants, as the European dogwood, Cornus sanguinea, the chokeberry, Aronia arbutifolia, or the mountain ash, Sorbus americana.
2. the plant itself.
3. any of several plants, especially the dog rose, bearberry, and guelder rose.

Dogberry

²

[ dawg-ber-ee, -buh-ree, dog- ]

noun

, plural Dog·ber·rys

1. a foolish constable in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
2. any foolish, blundering, or stupid official.

dogberry

¹

/ -brɪ; -bərɪ; ˈdɒɡˌbɛrɪ /

noun

1. sometimes capital a foolish, meddling, and usually old official

dogberry

²

/ -brɪ; ˈdɒɡˌbɛrɪ; -bərɪ /

noun

1. any of certain plants that have berry-like fruits, such as the European dogwood or the bearberry
2. the fruit of any of these plants

Derived Forms

• ˈdogberryˌism, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dogberry¹

First recorded in 1545–55; dog + berry

Word History and Origins

Origin of dogberry¹

after Dogberry, character in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing (1598)

Example Sentences

In the middle of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s suite of incidental music for “Much Ado About Nothing,” there’s a march meant to accompany Dogberry, Shakespeare’s comic constable, and his fellow watchmen.

From New York Times

One of the oldest and purest forms of humor is laughing at a buffoon whose exaggerated sense of self-importance conflicts with the evidence provided by reality, a tradition that extends from Dogberry in Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" to the tone-deaf people who in "American Idol" auditions who believe they sound like Mariah Carey.

From Salon

The returning midwife, angry at Alyce for ignoring her earlier, set her to do all the least pleasant chores: roasting frogs’ livers, boiling snails into jelly, stripping the thorns from dogberry roses.

From Literature

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

The potentially tiresome character of the constable Dogberry is reconceived as a malaprop-prone American filmmaker who goes by the name Dog Berry.

From New York Times