speak volumes
speak volumes
To reveal or indicate a great deal about someone or something. How you react to challenges speaks volumes about your character. He didn't answer the question directly, but his response speaks volumes. Her choice of dress for the event spoke volumes.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
speak volumes
Fig. [for something that is seen] to reveal a great deal of information. The unsightly yard and unpainted house speaks volumes about what kind of people live there.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
speak volumes
Be significant, indicate a great deal, as in That house of theirs speaks volumes about their income. This idiom uses volumes in the sense of "the information contained in volumes of books." [c. 1800]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
speak volumes
COMMON If something speaks volumes, it gives you a lot of information about the true facts of a situation. What you wear speaks volumes about you. Her background, while speaking volumes about her business skills, could not convince the arts world that she was part of it. Note: In this expression, a `volume' is a book.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
speak volumes
1 (of a gesture, circumstance, or object) convey a great deal. 2 be good evidence for. 2 1998 New Scientist It was a minor scandal… but it spoke volumes about the world's shifting relationship with its favourite illicit drug.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
speak ˈvolumes (about/for somebody/something)
show or express a lot about the nature or quality of somebody/something: Her face spoke volumes. You could see how much she had suffered. ♢ The progress he’s made since the operation speaks volumes for his courage.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
speak volumes, to
To say a great deal about something, to be very expressive on a subject. In this hyperbolic phrase, what is being said is likened to an entire book. It dates from about 1800 and continues to be current. M. Wilmot used it in a letter of May 3, 1803, “A sentimental story that speaks Volumes in favour of the Count and his Daughter.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer