Meaning & use
raving about
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Meanings
phrasefixed phraseinformal
Talking with great enthusiasm and praise about someone or something.
Grammar: Used after be or a verb like keep, with about before the person or thing being praised: Everyone is raving about the new cafe.
Patterns
- be raving about someone/something
- keep raving about someone/something
My sister has been raving about that Korean restaurant for weeks.
After the concert, fans were raving about the drummer all night.
He keeps raving about some app that helps him sleep.
phrasefixed phrase
Speaking in a wild, confused, or angry way about something.
Grammar: Here raving suggests uncontrolled or unreasonable speech, often with anger: He was raving about being cheated.
Patterns
- be raving about something
- start raving about something
The man at the bus stop was raving about secret messages in the news.
She started raving about how unfair the rules were.
Stop raving about the traffic and just call the office.
Word forms
| base form | rave about |
|---|
Common combinations
- everyone is raving about
- Everyone is raving about the new bakery on Main Street.
- raving about a movie
- They spent the whole drive home raving about the movie.
- can't stop raving about
- My dad can't stop raving about his new phone.
- raving about the food
- The guests were still raving about the food the next day.
Synonyms and how they differ
- praising
- Praising is neutral and can be written or spoken; raving about is more emotional and informal.
- gushing about
- Gushing about means praising in an exaggerated, excited way, often about a person; raving about works for things too.
- enthusing about
- Enthusing about is slightly more formal and focuses on showing excitement rather than loud praise.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: raving about or ranting about?
raving about vs ranting about
Ranting about means complaining angrily for a long time; raving about usually means praising excitedly, though it can also mean speaking wildly.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'raving about' in the usual positive, informal way?
Choose one answer.
'Raving about' takes the thing being praised directly after about: raving about the performance. The other options break the fixed pattern with extra prepositions or wrong word order.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “raving about”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.