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VOCABULARY LISTS > JUST FOR FUN

Words from Shakespearean Insults 44 words

February 9, 2012 By Vocabulary.com Vocabulary.com Moderator
If you ever want to dish it out like the bard, add these words to your vocabulary.

Insults collected by Shakespeare-Online.

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Definitions Notes & Examples Words Only
  1. knave
    a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
    You are not worth another word, else I'd call you knave.
    All's Well that Ends Well (2.3.262)
  2. crooked
    having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned
    He is deformed, crooked, old and sere,
    Ill-faced, worse bodied, shapeless everywhere;
    Vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind;
    Stigmatical in making, worse in mind.
    The Comedy of Errors (4.2.22-5)
  3. sere
    (used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture
    He is deformed, crooked, old and sere,
    Ill-faced, worse bodied, shapeless everywhere;
    Vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind;
    Stigmatical in making, worse in mind.
    The Comedy of Errors (4.2.22-5)
  4. blunt
    devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment
    He is deformed, crooked, old and sere,
    Ill-faced, worse bodied, shapeless everywhere;
    Vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind;
    Stigmatical in making, worse in mind.
    The Comedy of Errors (4.2.22-5)
  5. dissembling
    pretending with intention to deceive
    Dissembling harlot, thou art false in all!
    The Comedy of Errors (4.4.100)
  6. slight
    lacking substance or significance
    For such things as you, I can scarce think there's any, ye're so slight.
    Coriolanus (5.1.108-9)
  7. ripe
    fully developed or matured and ready to be eaten or used
    The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes.
    Coriolanus (5.4.18)
  8. mercy
    a disposition to be kind and forgiving
    There is no more mercy in him than there is milk in a male tiger.
    Coriolanus (5.4.30)
  9. poison
    any substance that causes injury or illness or death of a living organism
    Away! Thou'rt poison to my blood.
    Cymbeline (1.1.128)
  10. vile
    morally reprehensible
    Vile worm, thou wast o’erlook’d even in thy birth.
    The Merry Wives of Windsor (5.5.60)
  11. sanguine
    a blood-red color
    This sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horseback-breaker, this huge hill of flesh!
    Henry IV (2.4.225-6)
  12. coward
    a person who shows fear or timidity
    This sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horseback-breaker, this huge hill of flesh!
    Henry IV (2.4.225-6)
  13. utter
    express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words)
    'Sblood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat's tongue, you bull's pizzle, you stock-fish! O for breath to utter what is like thee! you tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bowcase; you vile standing-tuck!
    Henry IV (2.4.227-9)
  14. sheath
    a protective covering (as for a knife or sword)
    'Sblood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat's tongue, you bull's pizzle, you stock-fish! O for breath to utter what is like thee! you tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bowcase; you vile standing-tuck!
    Henry IV (2.4.227-9)
  15. prune
    dried plum
    There’s no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune.
    Henry IV (3.3.40)
  16. swagger
    act in an arrogant, overly self-assured, or conceited manner
    Hang him, swaggering rascal!
    Henry IV (2.4.66)
  17. scorn
    look down on with disdain
    I scorn you, scurvy companion.
    Henry IV (2.4.115)
  18. scurvy
    of the most contemptible kind
    I scorn you, scurvy companion.
    Henry IV (2.4.115)
  19. rogue
    a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
    Away, you cut-purse rascal! you filthy bung, away! By this wine, I'll thrust my knife in your mouldy chaps, an you play the saucy cuttle with me. Away, you bottle-ale rascal! you basket-hilt stale juggler, you!
    Henry IV (2.4.120-22)
  20. filthy
    disgustingly dirty; filled or smeared with offensive matter
    Away, you cut-purse rascal! you filthy bung, away! By this wine, I'll thrust my knife in your mouldy chaps, an you play the saucy cuttle with me. Away, you bottle-ale rascal! you basket-hilt stale juggler, you!
    Henry IV (2.4.120-22)
  21. saucy
    improperly forward or bold
    Away, you cut-purse rascal! you filthy bung, away! By this wine, I'll thrust my knife in your mouldy chaps, an you play the saucy cuttle with me. Away, you bottle-ale rascal! you basket-hilt stale juggler, you!
    Henry IV (2.4.120-22)
  22. braggart
    a very boastful and talkative person
    O braggart vile and damned furious wight!
    Henry V (2.1.100)
  23. furious
    marked by extreme anger
    O braggart vile and damned furious wight!
    Henry V (2.1.100)
  24. incarnate
    possessing or existing in bodily form
    They were devils incarnate.
    Henry V (2.3.32)
  25. base
    of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense)
    A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave...
    King Lear (2.2.14-24)
  26. shallow
    lacking depth of intellect or knowledge; concerned only with what is obvious
    A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave...
    King Lear (2.2.14-24)
  27. heir
    a person who is entitled by law or by the terms of a will to inherit the estate of another
    ...and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch...
    King Lear (2.2.14-24)
  28. maul
    injure badly by beating
    O you beast!
    I'll so maul you and your toasting-iron,
    That you shall think the devil is come from hell.
    King John (4.3.105)
  29. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    You are a tedious fool.
    Measure for Measure (2.1.113)
  30. vice
    a specific form of evildoing
    O faithless coward! O dishonest wretch!
    Wilt thou be made a man out of my vice?
    Measure for Measure (3.1.151-3)
  31. spawn
    lay spawn
    Some report a sea-maid spawn’d him; some that he was begot between two stock-fishes. But it is certain that when he makes water his urine is congealed ice.
    Measure for Measure (3.2.56)
  32. beget
    make children
    Some report a sea-maid spawn’d him; some that he was begot between two stock-fishes. But it is certain that when he makes water his urine is congealed ice.
    Measure for Measure (3.2.56)
  33. congeal
    become gelatinous
    Some report a sea-maid spawn’d him; some that he was begot between two stock-fishes. But it is certain that when he makes water his urine is congealed ice.
    Measure for Measure (3.2.56)
  34. canker
    an ulceration (especially of the lips or lining of the mouth)
    You juggler! you canker-blossom!
    A Midsummer Night's Dream (3.2.293)
  35. blossom
    reproductive organ of angiosperm plants especially one having showy or colorful parts
    You juggler! you canker-blossom!
    A Midsummer Night's Dream (3.2.293)
  36. lump
    a compact mass
    Thou lump of foul deformity!
    Richard III (1.2.58)
  37. foul
    highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
    Thou lump of foul deformity!
    Richard III (1.2.58)
  38. peasant
    a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement
    You peasant swain! You whoreson malt-horse drudge!
    The Taming of the Shrew(4.1.116)
  39. monster
    an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts
    I shall laugh myself to death at this puppy-headed
    monster!
    The Tempest (2.2.155)
  40. monstrous
    distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous
    Why, thou deboshed fish thou...Wilt thou tell a monstrous lie, being but half a fish and half a monster?
    The Tempest (3.2.29-30)
  41. sodden
    wet through and through; thoroughly wet
    Thou sodden-witted lord! thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows.
    Troilus and Cressida (2.1.41)
  42. kernel
    the inner and usually edible part of a seed or grain or nut or fruit stone
    A fusty nut with no kernel.
    Troilus and Cressida (2.1.99)
  43. naughty
    badly behaved
    Go hang yourself, you naughty mocking uncle!
    Troilus and Cressida (4.2.31)
  44. mocking
    abusing vocally; expressing contempt or ridicule
    Go hang yourself, you naughty mocking uncle!
    Troilus and Cressida (4.2.31)