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.

---

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

---

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

She knew how to poke fun at pious men in frilly dickeys, and rhapsodize on the pleasures found in everyday life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026

The videos, which now number more than 260, have become appointment viewing for movie lovers, who relish watching their favorite artists rhapsodize about cinema in unrehearsed, genuine ways.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2025

West's faithful are more likely to rhapsodize about the way 2004's "The College Dropout" changed the pattern of their brainwaves.

From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2022

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

So beautiful, Pelosi rhapsodized, “I could listen to it forever.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2023

A few recent college graduates were on hand and rhapsodized about growing up here.

From New York Times ● Sep. 10, 2022

They led me to it, and rhapsodized over its magnificent terror.

From The Mountains by Stewart Edward White

The greatest broadcaster in sports history preached here, Scully rhapsodizing for 67 seasons about the Dodgers in words celebrated around the world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2022

In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I once wrote a column rhapsodizing how foraging at the local warehouse store satisfied some primitive masculine need to hunt and gather.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 20, 2022

The pandemic has turned us all into armchair immunologists, rhapsodizing about T cells and antibodies with the ardor once reserved for — well, anything else.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 17, 2022

He is prone to rhapsodizing about the open road.

From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2022

They grew tired and went away,—the wife, like Lady Byron, refusing to go back to such an aimless, rhapsodizing husband.

From Home Life of Great Authors by Hattie Tyng Griswold

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• freak out
• go crazy

---