Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
much ado about nothing

much ado about nothing

1 7.5
A lot of fuss about something unimportant
  • idiom
  • /mʌtʃ əˈduː əˈbaʊt ˈnʌθɪŋ/
  • Informal
: mucho ruido y pocas nueces
  • The debate over the new policy seemed like much ado about nothing to those not involved.
  • much ado about nothing
  • making much ado about nothing

Is this reaction warranted or is this Much Ado about nothing as they say?

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Everyone was worried about the delay, but it turned out to be much ado about nothing.

  • As far as I'm concerned, it's much ado about nothing.

    Rock Star (2001)

  • Some board members feel that the concerns raised by the Times were much ado about nothing.

    Blog text (5)

  • I think you have made much ado about nothing, sir.

    Blog text (33)

  • In any case, this is much ado about nothing.

    Blog text (19)

  • "It was a lot of ado about nothing," the mayor said Friday.

    Blog text (31)

  • Make no mistake... this isn't much ado about nothing.

    Best Men (1997)

  • It seems like the whole much ado about nothing misses the main point.

    Blog text (28)

  • Because honestly, outside of Mitt Romney's outrageous comments, this whole affair has been much ado about nothing.

    Blog text (29)

  • The supposed scandal proved to be much ado about nothing... when baseball commissioner Judge Landis fully acquitted the Georgia Peach... of all wrongdoing.

    Cobb (1994)

Synonyms

petty argument
vsmuch ado about nothing
1 3.0

A small disagreement about something unimportant

is broader concern or fuss rather than a direct dispute
foofaraw
vsmuch ado about nothing
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A loud, unnecessary fuss about something unimportant

is general loud worry rather than a showy display
fussiness
vsmuch ado about nothing
1 5.8

Too much detail or decoration that makes things complicated

focuses on noisy worry about importance rather than fine detail
pettifoggery
vsmuch ado about nothing
  • Archaic
1 9.9

Arguing about small unimportant details to avoid making a decision

is broad unnecessary concern rather than petty quibbling

Antonyms

calm
106 1.0

A quiet, peaceful feeling that helps you stay steady

How Much Fuss

uproar
49 3.9
much ado about nothing
  • Informal
1 7.5
fuss
137 1.5

Surface Forms

much ado about nothing singular
much ados about nothing plural

Morphology

much + ado + about + nothing

The meaning is directly and transparently built from the constituents: 'much' (a large amount) + 'ado' (fuss) + 'about' (concerning) + 'nothing' (of no importance), yielding 'a lot of fuss about nothing.' This compositional pattern is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows all the words can readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The idiom much ado about nothing comes from a play by Shakespeare, where people make much ado ('a lot of fuss') about nothing ('not important'). That's why the phrase means 'a lot of fuss or worry about something unimportant'.