Shakespeare

or Shak·spere, Shake·spear

[ sheyk-speer ]

noun

1. William, the Bardthe Bard of Avon, 1564–1616, English poet and dramatist.

Shakespeare

/ ˈʃeɪkspɪə /

noun

1. ShakespeareWilliam15641616MEnglishTHEATRE: dramatistWRITING: poet William. 1564–1616, English dramatist and poet. He was born and died at Stratford-upon-Avon but spent most of his life as an actor and playwright in London. His plays with approximate dates of composition are: Henry VI, Parts I–III (1590); Richard III (1592); The Comedy of Errors (1592); Titus Andronicus (1593); The Taming of the Shrew (1593); The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594); Love's Labour's Lost (1594); Romeo and Juliet (1594); Richard II (1595); A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595); King John (1596); The Merchant of Venice (1596); Henry IV, Parts I–II (1597); Much Ado about Nothing (1598); Henry V (1598); Julius Caesar (1599); As You Like It (1599); Twelfth Night (1599); Hamlet (1600); The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600); Troilus and Cressida (1601); All's Well that ends Well (1602); Measure for Measure (1604); Othello (1604); King Lear (1605); Macbeth (1605); Antony and Cleopatra (1606); Coriolanus (1607); Timon of Athens (1607); Pericles (1608); Cymbeline (1609); The Winter's Tale (1610); The Tempest (1611); and, possibly in collaboration with John Fletcher, Two Noble Kinsmen (1612) and Henry VIII (1612). His Sonnets, variously addressed to a fair young man and a dark lady, were published in 1609

Other Words From

• pre-Shakespeare adjective

Example Sentences

Our mental life — perception, memory, volition — is not the work of what Shakespeare called “cool reason” alone.

From Washington Post

He says, “When you tackle Shakespeare’s great roles you change on a cellular level, so the place is filled with adrenalized memories for me.”

From Washington Blade

In fact, the Shakespeare project, which Elizebeth had first encountered as a young woman in 1916, now seems like a minor side project compared to her other achievements.

From Time

Maybe if we never started burning fossil fuel, civilization would have continued along the path it was traveling in Shakespeare’s time, 400 years ago.

From Nautilus

It’s this algorithm that, you know, you give it a few words and it will spit out paragraphs and paragraphs of what looks convincingly like Shakespeare or whatever else you tell it to do.

From MIT Technology Review

Shakespeare,” said Professor Watson, “wrote a story for each of us and in them we can hear what we want.

From The Daily Beast

My trip takes the reverse path, and I begin by assessing the depth of my Shakespeare knowledge in his birthplace.

From The Daily Beast

Apparently, Shakespeare coined 1,700 words, from the frequently used (excitement) to the should-be-more frequently used (spewed).

From The Daily Beast

Was it Shakespeare, in mad pursuit of a lovely boy and that voluptuous Dark Lady?

From The Daily Beast

You were the first black actor to play an English king in a major Shakespeare production, and the media treated it bizarrely.

From The Daily Beast

What is, then, this precious drink I read of in my Shakespeare—so precious, that your lordship will not trust him to his butler?

From Project Gutenberg

We will try another case: You want to remember the number of plays that Shakespeare wrote.

From Project Gutenberg

The king had written against Tobacco, and Will Shakespeare set his watch to the time.

From Project Gutenberg

Then a humorist told some of his own funny stories and an elocutionist recited a bit from Shakespeare effectively.

From Project Gutenberg

On the subject of Shakespeare's height he could not speak with assurance, but Keats was only just over five feet.

From Project Gutenberg