rhapsody

American  

[rap-suh-dee] / ˈræp sə di /

noun

plural

rhapsodies

1. Music. an instrumental composition irregular in form and suggestive of improvisation.

2. an ecstatic expression of feeling or enthusiasm.

3. an epic poem, or a part of such a poem, as a book of the Iliad, suitable for recitation at one time.

4. a similar piece of modern literature.

5. an unusually intense or irregular poem or piece of prose.

6. Archaic. a miscellaneous collection; jumble.

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rhapsody British  

/ ˈræpsədɪ /

noun

1. music a composition free in structure and highly emotional in character

2. an expression of ecstatic enthusiasm

3. (in ancient Greece) an epic poem or part of an epic recited by a rhapsodist

4. a literary work composed in an intense or exalted style

5. rapturous delight or ecstasy

6. obsolete a medley

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Etymology

Origin of rhapsody

1535–45; < Latin rhapsōdia < Greek rhapsōidía recital of epic poetry, equivalent to rhapsōid ( ós ) rhapsodist + -ia -y ³

Explanation

A rhapsody is an impassioned speech or sentiment. Your rhapsody about the desserts at your city's new restaurant has all of your friends drooling and dying to try them. A rhapsody is also part of an epic poem that is suitable for reciting. The word comes from the Greek word rhapsodios, which means a person who recites epic poems, and whose root is rhaptein, meaning to stitch. A rhapsody is also a musical piece noted for its improvisational nature and irregular form. Perhaps the most famous of this type of music is George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," composed in 1924.

Example Sentences

Another inspires a short rhapsody detailing the six-figure worth of a Richard Mille Felipe Massa automatic chronograph with a rose gold skeleton and a flyback function.

From Salon • Apr. 11, 2025

This music isn’t a treatise; it is a rhapsody in the best sense, in that each musical vignette is full of heart and intimate understanding of the joys and pains of Black humanity.

From New York Times • Aug. 3, 2022

As a TV star, Yair Lapid's weekly commentary was entitled "Being Israeli" - a rhapsody about the middle-class, politically centrist ranks that he saw holding together a fractious country, with him as their tribune.

From Reuters • Jun. 21, 2022

There was rhapsody in these musical seductions — and the calculation that the way to theater lovers’ hearts was through their cast albums.

From Washington Post • Sep. 27, 2021

The House had then decided never again to allow itself to become inflamed by the mere rant and rhapsody of a meddling fanatic” and had argued “that the subject would never be stirred again.”

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• arrangement
• concerto
• drama
• melody
• music
• piece
• poetry
• setup
• symphony
• theme
• tune
• writing