idiom · neutral
speak volumes
UK/spiːk ˈvɒljuːmz/US/spiːk ˈvɑːljuːmz/SPEAK·VOL·umes
speakingtask2
to express a lot of information or meaning without words; to be very expressive
Examples
“Her silence spoke volumes about how upset she was.”
“The empty stadium speaks volumes about how unpopular the event was.”
“His improvement speaks volumes about his hard work.”
Band 8 sentence
“The fact that no one volunteered spoke volumes about the team's morale.”
Collocations
- silence spoke volumes
- this fact speaks volumes
Word family
speak volumes (phrase) verb phrase
Common mistakes
It speaks many volumes.→It speaks volumes.
Her silence say volumes.→Her silence speaks volumes.
Say it for a higher band
5say a lot→6reveal a lot→7+speak volumes
Synonyms
say a lot
reveal a lot
Easily confused
say a lot
“That comment really says a lot about his attitude.”
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