Polonius

[ puh-loh-nee-uhs ]

noun

1. the sententious father of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Example Sentences

After the ghost blames his brother, Polonius, the scene transitions seamlessly into a wedding — that of Polonius and the widowed Gertrude, who seals her new life with a karaoke rendition of Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”

From New York Times

Bushy-browed Waterston began his acting career as a stage actor in New York with a number of Shakespeare roles, including Lear, Hamlet, Polonius, Laertes, Prospero, Leonato, Prince Hal, Silvius, Cloten and Benedict.

From Seattle Times

“Roaming the court in striped flannel pajamas, he’s a “Marat/Sade” inmate ready to bare a buttock to the prying Polonius, slam Ophelia to the ground with a violence that turns infuriatingly into softness and light, and paint Gertrude with the blood smearing his face and body after the murder of Polonius,” Rogoff writes.

From Los Angeles Times

Last year, Van Norden played Polonius in an otherwise unmemorable Antaeus production of “Hamlet” and made the character seem more fascinating than even Hamlet.

From Los Angeles Times

Daniel Pearce makes of Polonius a hilariously pedantic desk jockey and bad idea bear.

From New York Times