Ado means unnecessary fuss, trouble, or complication about something. When people make a big ado about a small problem, they're creating drama and confusion over something that doesn't really matter much.

You'll most often see this word in the phrase much ado about nothing, which describes a situation where people are getting worked up over something trivial. If your friend spends twenty minutes dramatically explaining why they can't possibly sit in a certain chair at lunch, you might think it's much ado about nothing. Shakespeare even wrote a comedy with this title about characters who create elaborate problems that don't really exist.

The opposite of ado would be handling something calmly and efficiently. When someone says “let's get started without further ado,” they mean “let's begin right away without wasting time on unnecessary formalities or delays.” When you accomplish something without ado, you do it simply and directly, without making it more complicated than it needs to be. While a little ceremony can be nice, sometimes the best approach is to skip the ado and get straight to what matters.