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Added 5 October 2026

heavy

/ˈhɛv.i/ adjective

Categories: Describing WordsEveryday Words

In Latin: gravis Wiktionary

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about heavy at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. Having great weight.
    Can you help me carry this? It's really heavy.
  2. Heavyset: overweight.
    When he was a child he was rather heavy, but today he is impressively fit.
  3. Serious, somber.

adverb

  1. In a heavy manner; weightily; heavily; gravely.
    Heavy-laden with their sins, time hung heavy
  2. To a great degree; greatly.

noun

  1. A villain or bad guy; the one responsible for evil or aggressive acts.
    With his wrinkled, uneven face, the actor always seemed to play the heavy in films.
  2. A doorman, bouncer or bodyguard.
    A fight started outside the bar but the heavies came out and stopped it.
  3. A prominent figure; a "major player".

verb

  1. To make heavier.
    They piled their goods on the donkey's back, heavying up an already backbreaking load.
  2. To sadden. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  3. To use power or wealth to exert influence on, e.g., governments or corporations; to pressure.
    The union was well known for the methods it used to heavy many businesses.

Origin

From Middle English hevy, heviȝ, from Old English hefiġ, hefeġ, hæfiġ (“heavy; important, grave, severe, serious; oppressive, grievous; slow, dull”), from Proto-West Germanic *habīg (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Germanic *habīgaz (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to take, grasp, hold”). Equivalent to heave + -y. Related to have.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Related Words: weightyheavilyheftyponderousheavyweightmassivebiglargegreatdensefullstrong

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