Definition

1. Verb:
   • To make a speech or speeches, especially in a formal, pompous, or lengthy manner: The verb "speechify" describes the act of delivering a speech, often with the connotation that the speech is overly formal, long-winded, or pretentious. It implies speaking at length, sometimes to an excessive or tedious degree.

Examples of Usage

• Verb:
  • The senator would often speechify for hours on the floor of the legislature.
  • He loves to speechify at family gatherings, turning a simple toast into a lengthy lecture.
  • Politicians are expected to speechify on ceremonial occasions.

Advanced Usage

• "to speechify about/on something": To make a formal or pompous speech concerning a particular topic.
  • The CEO speechified on the company's glorious history for the entire first hour of the meeting.
• The word often carries a slightly critical or humorous tone, suggesting the speaker is more interested in hearing themselves talk than in effective communication.

Variants and Related Words

• Speechifier (n): A person who speechifies; a person who makes long or pompous speeches.
  • He was known as a tiresome speechifier who could empty a room.
• Speech (n): The general act of speaking or a formal address delivered to an audience.
• Orate (v): To speak formally, often at length. (Similar to "speechify" but may lack the same critical connotation of pomposity.)

Synonyms

• Harangue: To lecture someone at length in an aggressive and critical manner.
• Hold forth: To speak at length, especially in a self-important way.
• Pontificate: To express one's opinions in a way considered annoyingly pompous and dogmatic.
• Declaim: To utter or deliver words in a rhetorical or impassioned way, as if to an audience.

Related Phrases

• To go on (and on): To talk for a long time, often tediously. (A more informal equivalent.)
  • He went on and on about his golf game.
• To sound off: To express one's opinions loudly or forcefully.
  • He sounded off about politics during dinner.

Related Idioms

• To stand on a soapbox: To express one's opinions forcefully in public, especially on political or social issues. (Implies informal public speaking, often critical.)
  • He's always standing on a soapbox about environmental regulations.
• To hear the sound of one's own voice: Used to describe someone who talks excessively because they enjoy talking.
  • He loves the sound of his own voice; he'll speechify about anything.

Verb

1. make speeches; hold forth, or harangue with a certain degree of formality
   • These ministers speechify on every occasion