sound and fury

noun

Impotent or meaningless ranting.

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Meanings

nounsound and fury (uncountable)
  1. uncountableImpotent or meaningless ranting.
    1 more example

    […] I met Babu in the Ugandan capital, Kampula, during the Pan African Movement meeting and he was full of sound and fury, backing the divisive (and now discredited) ethnic politics of the regime in Ethiopia. In fact, Babu was a radical nationalist who was never able to surpass the limitations of his "island" […]

    2003, New African (issues 414-424, page 5)

Origin

From William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, in which life is said to be "a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing".

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

sound and fury. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sound%20and%20fury

MLA

“sound and fury.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sound%20and%20fury. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sound and fury,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sound%20and%20fury.

Source: sound and fury on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.