Shakespeare invented over 1,700 words still used in English today
Some trivia is so bizarre it forces you to rethink your entire understanding of the world. Check out the fact below, see how others reacted, and scroll down to dive into the verified science and history behind it.
William Shakespeare is credited with coining or first recording over 1,700 words in the English language, including: bedroom, lonely, generous, obscene, gloomy, radiance, rant, swagger, worthless, eyeball, lackluster, and bedroom. Whether he truly invented them or simply wrote them down before anyone else is debated — he may have borrowed from spoken dialects. But his texts provide the earliest written evidence for hundreds of common words that now feel indispensable.
We use these words every day without knowing we're borrowing from one person's vocabulary. 'Bedroom' and 'lonely' feel so fundamental to English that discovering they were coined (or first written) by a single playwright feels impossible.
The Science Behind It
William Shakespeare is credited with coining or first recording over 1,700 words in the English language, including: bedroom, lonely, generous, obscene, gloomy, radiance, rant, swagger, worthless, eyeball, lackluster, and bedroom. Whether he truly invented them or simply wrote them down before anyone else is debated — he may have borrowed from spoken dialects. But his texts provide the earliest written evidence for hundreds of common words that now feel indispensable.
Why Your Brain Finds This Hard to Believe
Sources & Verification
OddlyHuman Editors
VerifiedWritten and fact-checked by the OddlyHuman Behavioral Science Team. We verify all psychological, sociological, and historical claims against peer-reviewed journals, primary sources, and established encyclopedias to bring you accurate insights.
Read our Editorial Guidelines →“Shakespeare invented over 1,700 words still in use today — including 'bedroom', 'lonely', 'generous', 'obscene', and 'swagger'. You quote him daily without knowing it. 📜 #OddlyHuman”