Meanings
ado1
- uncountableTrouble; troublesome business; fuss, commotion.
Probably a crab would be filled with a sense of personal outrage if it could hear us class it without ado or apology as a crustacean, and thus dispose of it. “I am no such thing,” it would say; “I am myself, myself alone.”
1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC1 more example
Antonio:In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. It wearies me; you say it wearies you; But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn; And such a wantwit sadness makes of me, That I have much ado to know myself.
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]Synonyms: argy-bargy, bangarang, bobbery, brouhaha, bunfight, bustle, bust-up, chaos
ADO2
- abbreviationinitialismcomputingInitialism of ActiveX Data Objects.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounTrouble; troublesome business; fuss, commotion.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishat do“to do”
- Englishado
From Northern Middle English at do (“to do”), infinitive of do, don (“to do”), see do. Influenced by an Old Norse practice of marking the infinitive by using the preposition at, att (compare Danish at gå (“to go”)). More at at, do.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech povyk, zdržování
- povykdoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- zdržovánídoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- rotykadoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
Dutch gedoe
- gedoedoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
Finnish meteli, mekkala
- metelidoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- mekkaladoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- älämölödoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- lätinädoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
French cérémonies, manières
- cérémoniesdoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- manièresdoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- bruitdoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- histoiredoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- foindoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
German Getue
- Getuedoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
Hungarian hűhó
- hűhódoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
Māori utiuti
- utiutidoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
Portuguese confusão, barulho
- confusãodoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- barulhodoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
Russian затруднение
- затруднение (zatrudnenije)doing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
Slovak hurhaj, zdržiavanie
- hurhajdoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- zdržiavaniedoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
Turkish gürültü, patırtı
- gürültüdoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- patırtıdoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- telaşdoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
- yaygaradoing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ado
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
ado. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ado
“ado.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ado. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ado,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ado.
Source: ado on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.