Ado

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əˈduː/

Definitions

1. An excessive display of fuss or disturbance that may lack genuine importance
2. A situation involving undue commotion or excitement typically regarding insignificant issues
3. A state of needless excitement or commotion over matters of little consequence

Etymology: The noun "ado" is a rare survivor of an old grammatical habit. It comes from Northern Middle English "at do", which literally meant "to do": "at" was the marker placed before a verb in its base form, much as "to" works in modern English. Over time speakers began treating the whole phrase as a single word, and the "at" fused onto the verb so that it became a noun meaning bustle, activity, or fuss. The same Old Norse "at" marker shaped the way the infinitive was built in northern English, which is why this phrase took root there. Most of the time "ado" now appears in the fixed phrase "much ado about nothing," a title Shakespeare chose for his comedy. That phrase has kept the noun alive, so readers meet it mainly in that setting rather than in everyday speech.

Synonyms: fuss, commotion, hubbub

Antonyms: calm, tranquility