Here are 20 examples of words we can thank Shakespeare for:1. ADDICTION:OTHELLO, ACT II, SCENE IIIt is Othello's pleasure, our noble and valiant general, that, upon certain tidings now arrived, importing the mere perdition of the Turkish fleet, every man put himself into triumph; some to dance, some to make bonfires, each man to what sport and revels his addiction leads him. HeraldIf not for that noble and valiant general and his playwright, our celebrity news coverage might be sorely lacking.2. ARCH-VILLAIN:TIMON OF ATHENS, ACT V, SCENE IYou that way and you this, but two in company; each man apart, all single and alone, yet an arch-villain keeps him company. TimonWith the added prefix of arch-, meaning more extreme than others of the same type, Shakespeare was able to distinguish the baddest of the bad.3. ASSASSINATION:MACBETH, ACT I, SCENE VIIIf it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly: if the assassination could trammel up the consequence, and catch with his surcease success. MacbethThough the term assassin hadbeen observed in use prior to the Scottish play, it seems apt that the work introduced yet another term for murder most foul.4. BEDAZZLED:THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, ACT IV, SCENE VPardon, old father, my mistaking eyes, that have been so bedazzled with the sun that everything I look on seemeth green. KatherinaA word first used to describe the particular gleam of sunlight is now used to sell rhinestone-embellished jeans. Maybe poetry really is dead.5. BELONGINGS:MEASURE FOR MEASURE,ACT I, SCENE IThyself and thy belongings are not thine own so proper as to waste thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee. Duke VincentioPeople prior to Shakespeares time did own things; they just referred to them by different words.6. COLD-BLOODED:KING JOHN, ACT III, SCENE IThou cold-blooded slave, hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side, been sworn my soldier, bidding me depend upon thy stars, thy fortune and thy strength, and dost thou now fall over to my fores? ConstanceBeyond its literal meaning, the 17th-century play initiated a metaphorical use for the term that is now most often used to describe serial killers and vampirestwo categories which, of course, need not be mutually exclusive.7. DISHEARTEN:HENRY V, ACT IV, SCENE ITherefore when he sees reason of fears, as we do, his fears, out of doubt, be of the same relish as ours are: yet, in reason, no man should possess him with any appearance of fear, lest he, by showing it, should dishearten his army. King Henry VThe opposite of hearten, a word already extant at the time of Shakespeares writing, dishearten was most appropriately first utilized in print by King Henry V, who didnt let insurmountable odds at the Battle of Agincourt get him down.8. EVENTFUL:AS YOU LIKE IT,ACT II, SCENE VIILast scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history, is second childishness and mere oblivion, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. - JaquesIf all the worlds a stage, its safe to assume that an event or two is taking place.9. EYEBALL:THE TEMPEST, ACT I, SCENE IIGo make thyself like a nymph o' the sea: be subject to no sight but thine and mine, invisible to every eyeball else. ProsperoShakespeares protagonist Prospero, though no medical doctor, can claim to be the first fictional character to name those round objects with which we see.10. FASHIONABLE:TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, ACT III, SCENE IIIFor time is like a fashionable host that slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand, and with his arms outstretch'd, as he would fly, grasps in the comer: welcome ever smiles, and farewell goes out sighing. UlyssesAnd with just 11 letters, centuries of debate over whats hot or not began.11. HALF-BLOODED/HOT-BLOODED:KING LEAR, ACT V, SCENE III/ ACT III, SCENE IIIHalf-blooded fellow, yes. AlbanyWhy, the hot-blooded France, that dowerless took our youngest born, I could as well be brought to knee his throne, and, squire-like; pension beg to keep base life afoot. LearAs is the tradition in Shakespearean tragedy, nearly everyone in King Lear dies, so the linguistic fascination here with blood is unsurprising, to say the least.12. INAUDIBLE:ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL, ACT V, SCENE IIILet's take the instant by the forward top; for we are old, and on our quick'st decrees the inaudible and noiseless foot of Time steals ere we can effect them. King of FranceOne of a number of words (invulnerable, indistinguishable, inauspicious, among others) which Shakespeare invented only in the sense of adding a negative in- prefix where it had never been before.13. LADYBIRD:ROMEO AND JULIET, ACT I, SCENE IIIWhat, lamb! What, ladybird!God forbid! Where's this girl? What, Juliet! NurseAlthough the Oxford English Dictionary notes that this particular term of endearment has fallen into disuse, maybe its about time for its comeback. Valentines Day is coming up, after all.14. MANAGER:A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM, ACT V, SCENE IWhere is our usual manager of mirth? What revels are in hand? Is there no play to ease the anguish of a torturing hour? King TheseusIf not for Shakespeare, workday complaining in the office break room just wouldnt be the same.15. MULTITUDINOUS:MACBETH, ACT II, SCENE IINo, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas in incarnadine, making the green one red. MacbethMultitudinous may not be the most appropriate synonym when the phrase a lot starts to crop up too often in your writing, but its certainly the one with the most letters.16. NEW-FANGLED:LOVES LABOURS LOST, ACT I, SCENE IAt Christmas I no more desire a rose than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth. BironIronically, this word sounds old-fashioned if used today.17. PAGEANTRY:PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE, ACT V, SCENE IIThis, my last boon, give me, for such kindness must relieve me, that you aptly will suppose what pageantry, what feats, what shows, what minstrelsy, and pretty din, the regent made in Mytilene to greet the king. GowerAlthough modern scholars generally agree that Shakespeare only appears to have written the second half of the play, this newly invented term for an extravagant ceremonial display appears in the section definitively authored by the Bard.18. SCUFFLE:ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA,ACT I, SCENE IHis captain's heart, which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst the buckles on his breast, reneges all temper, and is become the bellows and the fan to cool a gipsy's lust. PhiloAnother example of an existing verb that Shakespeare decided could stand up just as well as a noun.19. SWAGGER:HENRY V, ACT II, SCENE IV/A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM, ACT III, SCENE IAn't please your majesty, a rascal that swaggered with me last night. WilliamsWhat hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here, so near the cradle of the fairy queen? PuckBy transitive property, Shakespeare is responsible for Justin Biebers swag.20. UNCOMFORTABLE:ROMEO AND JULIET,ACT IV, SCENE VDespised, distressed, hated, martyr'd, kill'd! Uncomfortable time, why camest thou now to murder, murder our solemnity? - CapuletUn- was another prefix Shakespeare appended to adjectives with a liberal hand. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy in which a father mourns his daughters suicide, uncomfortable seems to have originated with a slightly more drastic sense than how we use it now.Of course, just because thefirst written instancesof these terms appeared in Shakespeares scripts doesnt preclude the possibility that they existed in the oral tradition prior to his recording them, but as Shakespeare might have said, it was high time (The Comedy of Errors) for such household words (Henry V).