waxing rhapsodic

[keitra]

What does 'He is not much for waxing rhapsodic' mean?

[Quizmonster]

A 'rhapsody' is an ecstatic outpouring of feeling and to 'wax' means to grow/become. Hence. someone who might 'wax rhapsodic' is a person who is given to such emotional and public outbursts. The phrase might be applied ironically to a boss, say, who doesn't give people much credit for their work.

[lhitch]

Actually, in this context, "wax" is used with a compliment ("rhapsodic", but it could also be something like "lyrical") and means to speak or write about something in the specified manner (defined by the complement); not to"grow/become" which is a definition applied to a different usage. So, to "wax rhapsodic" means to speak or write about something with an effusively enthusiastic or ecstatic expression of feeling.