"speak volumes" meaning in English

See speak volumes in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: en-au-speak volumes.ogg [Australia] Forms: speaks volumes [present, singular, third-person], speaking volumes [participle, present], spoke volumes [past], volumes [colloquial, participle, past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|speak<,,spoke,spoken> volumes}} speak volumes (third-person singular simple present speaks volumes, present participle speaking volumes, simple past spoke volumes, past participle spoken volumes)
  1. To talk a great deal.
    Sense id: en-speak_volumes-en-verb-9SQ-VoYN
  2. To convey significant information beyond what is explicit, especially unintentionally.
    Sense id: en-speak_volumes-en-verb-BbEV~BIO
  3. (of an action, situation, or object) To convey significant information. Tags: of an action
    Sense id: en-speak_volumes-en-verb-~6vVvuHm
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: tell volumes Hypernyms (to convey significant information beyond what is explicit): connote Translations (to convey significant information beyond what is explicit): dir molt (Catalan), boekdelen spreken (Dutch), kertoa paljon (Finnish), en dire long (French), vouloir tout dire (French), Bände sprechen (German), viel besagen (German), dirla lunga (Italian), dizer mundos (Portuguese), dizer muito (Portuguese), dizer imenso [Portugal] (Portuguese), decir mucho (Spanish)
Disambiguation of 'to convey significant information beyond what is explicit': 0 55 45 Disambiguation of 'to convey significant information beyond what is explicit': 0 55 45

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for speak volumes meaning in English (4.7kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "speaks volumes",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "speaking volumes",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spoke volumes",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "volumes",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "speak<,,spoke,spoken> volumes"
      },
      "expansion": "speak volumes (third-person singular simple present speaks volumes, present participle speaking volumes, simple past spoke volumes, past participle spoken volumes)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hypernyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "connote"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "speak"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I can speak volumes about this school.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To talk a great deal."
      ],
      "id": "en-speak_volumes-en-verb-9SQ-VoYN"
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "In our day-to-day experiences, it is often such nonverbal emotional information carried by the human voice that “speaks volumes.”",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To convey significant information beyond what is explicit, especially unintentionally."
      ],
      "id": "en-speak_volumes-en-verb-BbEV~BIO",
      "links": [
        [
          "convey",
          "convey"
        ],
        [
          "significant",
          "significant"
        ],
        [
          "information",
          "information"
        ],
        [
          "explicit",
          "explicit"
        ],
        [
          "unintentionally",
          "unintentionally"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The way you listen speaks volumes.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "The lighted decorated Christmas tree, a treat for all, speaks volumes of meaning.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1990, Roy Hollis, Eve, New York, N.Y.: Vantage Press",
          "text": "I waited, anticipating her reply. Her hesitation spoke volumes.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "27 March 2016, Daniel Taylor, “Eric Dier seals England’s stunning comeback against Germany”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 2016-04-01",
          "text": "Two-nil down, playing the World Cup winners in Berlin, England’s response spoke volumes for the spirit of togetherness Hodgson has been trying to foster and provided a victory that will be remembered with the kind of fondness usually reserved for the 5–1 win in Munich from an entirely different era.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To convey significant information."
      ],
      "id": "en-speak_volumes-en-verb-~6vVvuHm",
      "qualifier": "situation; or object; situation; or object",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(of an action, situation, or object) To convey significant information."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "of an action"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-speak volumes.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0d/En-au-speak_volumes.ogg/En-au-speak_volumes.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/En-au-speak_volumes.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "32 30 38",
      "word": "tell volumes"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "dir molt"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "boekdelen spreken"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "kertoa paljon"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "en dire long"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "vouloir tout dire"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "Bände sprechen"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "viel besagen"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "dirla lunga"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "dizer mundos"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "dizer muito"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "tags": [
        "Portugal"
      ],
      "word": "dizer imenso"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 55 45",
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "decir mucho"
    }
  ],
  "word": "speak volumes"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "speaks volumes",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "speaking volumes",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spoke volumes",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "volumes",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "speak<,,spoke,spoken> volumes"
      },
      "expansion": "speak volumes (third-person singular simple present speaks volumes, present participle speaking volumes, simple past spoke volumes, past participle spoken volumes)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hypernyms": [
    {
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "connote"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "speak"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I can speak volumes about this school.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To talk a great deal."
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "In our day-to-day experiences, it is often such nonverbal emotional information carried by the human voice that “speaks volumes.”",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To convey significant information beyond what is explicit, especially unintentionally."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "convey",
          "convey"
        ],
        [
          "significant",
          "significant"
        ],
        [
          "information",
          "information"
        ],
        [
          "explicit",
          "explicit"
        ],
        [
          "unintentionally",
          "unintentionally"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The way you listen speaks volumes.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "The lighted decorated Christmas tree, a treat for all, speaks volumes of meaning.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1990, Roy Hollis, Eve, New York, N.Y.: Vantage Press",
          "text": "I waited, anticipating her reply. Her hesitation spoke volumes.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "27 March 2016, Daniel Taylor, “Eric Dier seals England’s stunning comeback against Germany”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 2016-04-01",
          "text": "Two-nil down, playing the World Cup winners in Berlin, England’s response spoke volumes for the spirit of togetherness Hodgson has been trying to foster and provided a victory that will be remembered with the kind of fondness usually reserved for the 5–1 win in Munich from an entirely different era.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To convey significant information."
      ],
      "qualifier": "situation; or object; situation; or object",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(of an action, situation, or object) To convey significant information."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "of an action"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-speak volumes.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0d/En-au-speak_volumes.ogg/En-au-speak_volumes.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/En-au-speak_volumes.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "tell volumes"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "dir molt"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "boekdelen spreken"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "kertoa paljon"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "en dire long"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "vouloir tout dire"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "Bände sprechen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "viel besagen"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "dirla lunga"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "dizer mundos"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "dizer muito"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "tags": [
        "Portugal"
      ],
      "word": "dizer imenso"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to convey significant information beyond what is explicit",
      "word": "decir mucho"
    }
  ],
  "word": "speak volumes"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-03-12 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-03-01 using wiktextract (68773ab and 5f6ddbb). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.