ˈDogberry2
The name of a foolish constable in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing; thence, allusively, an ignorant consequential official.
| 1846 R. Ford Gath. Spain xx, There is no absurdity, no inconceivable ignorance, too great for the local Spanish ‘Dogberries’, who rarely deviate into sense. 1864 M. E. Braddon Aurora Floyd xxxviii. (Farmer), The Dogberries of Doncaster..were on the wrong scent. |
Hence Dogberrydom, Dogberryism.
| 1855–81 Hyde Clarke Dict., Dogberryism. 1883 Daily Tel. 7 Dec., Is this firm government? It seems to us Dogberryism in excelsis. 1895 J. J. Raven Hist. Suffolk 206 In defiance of Dogberrydom. |