rhapsodize

American  

[rap-suh-dahyz] / ˈræp səˌdaɪz /

especially British, rhapsodise

verb (used without object)

rhapsodized, rhapsodizing

1. to talk with extravagant enthusiasm.

2. to speak or write rhapsodies.

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verb (used with object)

rhapsodized, rhapsodizing

1. to recite as a rhapsody.

rhapsodize British  

/ ˈræpsəˌdaɪz /

verb

1. to speak or write (something) with extravagant enthusiasm

2. (intr) to recite or write rhapsodies

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Etymology

Origin of rhapsodize

First recorded in 1600–10; rhapsod(y) + -ize

Explanation

Use the verb rhapsodize to refer to speaking with extreme enthusiasm — and often at great length, like that friend who tends to rhapsodize about her favorite movie for twenty minutes straight. To correctly pronounce rhapsodize, say "RAP-so-dies." A rhapsody is a conversation or speech that is elaborate and very emotional, so to rhapsodize is to speak that way. Someone with a tendency to rhapsodize gets carried away with the emotion of the topic. That's why when you rhapsodize you don't always notice that listeners stop listening if they don't share the same passion.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rhapsodize rhapsodized rhapsodizing

But lately, it has found a new gear, notching growth that has surprised Wall Street—and pushed Hasbro’s chief executive to rhapsodize to investors about its scale.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

He discovered the restaurant after hearing Ed Begley Jr. rhapsodize about it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

I also wanted to ask about the specific choice of having Elena address her constituents as “my loves” and rhapsodize about “our love.”

From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2024

Sammy’s parents used to rhapsodize about the trip they took to Paris once, before he was born.

From New York Times ● Sep. 1, 2022

Madoc is patiently listening to her rhapsodize over the perfection of their garments.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

When Eric Schmidt, speaking last week to the University of Arizona’s graduates, rhapsodized about the coming artificial-intelligence revolution, some in the crowed jeered.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

Back in 2005, when Roberts rhapsodized about Indiana farmland and an endless horizon punctuated only by silos and barns, he was substituting a humble, real-life Midwest upbringing for his own.

From Slate ● May 7, 2026

Though her character in “Fleabag” famously rhapsodized the postmenopausal life, for female actors, she says, the reality can be a bit less glorious.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2024

Online, a group of women whom Ms. Kawasaki has dubbed “Yamagami Girls” have rhapsodized about Mr. Yamagami’s looks and the bookish intelligence they say he demonstrated on his Twitter account.

From New York Times ● Sep. 24, 2022

She has been etherealized, vapourized, rhapsodized about, till the flesh and blood have gone out of her.

From Life of Charles Dickens by Marzials, Frank T. (Frank Thomas)

Simpson knew this as early as 1976, when The New York Times ran a story rhapsodizing over his shocking success as Hertz’s pitchman, part of a $12.6 million advertising campaign.

From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2024

“The chef isn’t pleased with the quality,” he told me before rhapsodizing about the chateaubriand, so I bit.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 10, 2023

The head of London’s public transport system is rhapsodizing about a subway station — part of a new line he says will be “the envy of the world” when it opens this month.

From Seattle Times ● May 12, 2022

That is Ingmar Bergman, in his memoir “The Magic Lantern,” rhapsodizing on his “secret love,” the island of Faro in the Baltic Sea.

From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 2021

I expect you think I'm a rather silly and rhapsodizing girl, Mr. Heath.

From The Way of Ambition by Soper, J. H. Gardner

Related Words

• freak out
• go crazy