| English Dictionary |
HEAVY (heavier, heaviest)
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
, heaviest Dictionary entry overview: What does heavy mean?
• HEAVY (noun)
The noun HEAVY has 2 senses:
1. an actor who plays villainous roles
2. a serious (or tragic) role in a play
Familiarity information: HEAVY used as a noun is rare.
• HEAVY (adjective)
The adjective HEAVY has 27 senses:
1. of comparatively great physical weight or density
2. unusually great in degree or quantity or number
3. of the military or industry; using (or being) the heaviest and most powerful armaments or weapons or equipment
4. marked by great psychological weight; weighted down especially with sadness or troubles or weariness
5. usually describes a large person who is fat but has a large frame to carry it
6. (used of soil) compact and fine-grained
7. darkened by clouds
8. of great intensity or power or force
9. (physics, chemistry) being or containing an isotope with greater than average atomic mass or weight
10. (of an actor or role) being or playing the villain
11. permitting little if any light to pass through because of denseness of matter
12. of relatively large extent and density
13. made of fabric having considerable thickness
14. prodigious
15. full and loud and deep
16. given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors
17. of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought
18. slow and laborious because of weight
19. large and powerful; especially designed for heavy loads or rough work
20. dense or inadequately leavened and hence likely to cause distress in the alimentary canal
21. sharply inclined
22. full of; bearing great weight
23. requiring or showing effort
24. characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort
25. lacking lightness or liveliness
26. (of sleep) deep and complete
27. in an advanced stage of pregnancy
Familiarity information: HEAVY used as an adjective is very familiar.
• HEAVY (adverb)
The adverb HEAVY has 1 sense:
1. slowly as if burdened by much weight
Familiarity information: HEAVY used as an adverb is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
An actor who plays villainous roles
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("heavy" is a kind of...):
actor; histrion; player; role player; thespian (a theatrical performer)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A serious (or tragic) role in a play
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("heavy" is a kind of...):
character; part; persona; role; theatrical role (an actor's portrayal of someone in a play)
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: heaviest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Of comparatively great physical weight or density
Context example:
heavy mahogany furniture
Similar:
ponderous (having great mass and weight and unwieldiness)
non-buoyant (tending to sink in a liquid or fall in air)
massive (consisting of great mass; containing a great quantity of matter)
hefty (of considerable weight and size)
doughy; soggy (having the consistency of dough because of insufficient leavening or improper cooking)
dense (having high relative density or specific gravity)
heavier-than-air (relating to an aircraft heavier than the air it displaces)
Attribute:
weight (the vertical force exerted by a mass as a result of gravity)
Antonym:
light (of comparatively little physical weight or density)
Derivation:
heaviness (the property of being comparatively great in weight)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Unusually great in degree or quantity or number
Context example:
heavy traffic
Similar:
harsh (severe)
Antonym:
light (not great in degree or quantity or number)
Derivation:
heaviness (unwelcome burdensome difficulty)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Of the military or industry; using (or being) the heaviest and most powerful armaments or weapons or equipment
Context example:
heavy industry involves large-scale production of basic products (such as steel) used by other industries
Antonym:
light (of the military or industry; using (or being) relatively small or light arms or equipment)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Marked by great psychological weight; weighted down especially with sadness or troubles or weariness
Context example:
heavy eyelids
Similar:
burdensome; onerous; taxing (not easily borne; wearing)
distressful; distressing; disturbing; perturbing; troubling; worrisome; worrying (causing distress or worry or anxiety)
leaden; weighted (made heavy or weighted down with weariness)
oppressive (weighing heavily on the senses or spirit)
weighty (weighing heavily on the spirit; causing anxiety or worry)
Antonym:
light (psychologically light; especially free from sadness or troubles)
Derivation:
heaviness (persisting sadness)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Usually describes a large person who is fat but has a large frame to carry it
Synonyms:
fleshy; heavy; overweight
Similar:
fat (having an (over)abundance of flesh)
Derivation:
heaviness (the property of being comparatively great in weight)
Sense 6
Meaning:
(used of soil) compact and fine-grained
Synonyms:
Context example:
the clayey soil was heavy and easily saturated
Similar:
compact (closely and firmly united or packed together)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Darkened by clouds
Synonyms:
heavy; lowering; sullen; threatening
Context example:
a heavy sky
Similar:
cloudy (full of or covered with clouds)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Of great intensity or power or force
Context example:
heavy seas
Similar:
big (marked by intense physical force)
Antonym:
light (of little intensity or power or force)
Sense 9
Meaning:
(physics, chemistry) being or containing an isotope with greater than average atomic mass or weight
Context example:
heavy water
Domain category:
chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)
Antonym:
light ((physics, chemistry) not having atomic weight greater than average)
Derivation:
heaviness (the property of being comparatively great in weight)
Sense 10
Meaning:
(of an actor or role) being or playing the villain
Context example:
Iago is the heavy role in 'Othello'
Similar:
wicked (morally bad in principle or practice)
Sense 11
Meaning:
Permitting little if any light to pass through because of denseness of matter
Synonyms:
dense; heavy; impenetrable
Context example:
impenetrable gloom
Similar:
thick (relatively dense in consistency)
Sense 12
Meaning:
Of relatively large extent and density
Context example:
a heavy line
Similar:
thick (not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions)
Derivation:
heaviness (used of a line or mark)
Sense 13
Meaning:
Made of fabric having considerable thickness
Context example:
a heavy coat
Similar:
thick (not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions)
Sense 14
Meaning:
Prodigious
Synonyms:
big; heavy
Context example:
heavy investor
Similar:
intemperate (excessive in behavior)
Sense 15
Meaning:
Full and loud and deep
Synonyms:
heavy; sonorous
Context example:
a herald chosen for his sonorous voice
Similar:
full ((of sound) having marked deepness and body)
Sense 16
Meaning:
Given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors
Synonyms:
hard; heavy; intemperate
Context example:
a hard drinker
Similar:
indulgent (characterized by or given to yielding to the wishes of someone)
Sense 17
Meaning:
Of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought
Synonyms:
grave; grievous; heavy; weighty
Context example:
the weighty matters to be discussed at the peace conference
Similar:
important; of import (of great significance or value)
Sense 18
Meaning:
Slow and laborious because of weight
Synonyms:
Context example:
a ponderous yawn
Similar:
heavy-footed ((of movement) lacking ease or lightness)
Sense 19
Meaning:
Large and powerful; especially designed for heavy loads or rough work
Context example:
heavy machinery
Similar:
heavy-duty (designed for heavy work)
Sense 20
Meaning:
Dense or inadequately leavened and hence likely to cause distress in the alimentary canal
Context example:
a heavy pudding
Similar:
indigestible (digested with difficulty)
Sense 21
Meaning:
Sharply inclined
Context example:
a heavy grade
Similar:
steep (having a sharp inclination)
Sense 22
Meaning:
Full of; bearing great weight
Synonyms:
heavy; weighed down
Context example:
vines weighed down with grapes
Similar:
full (containing as much or as many as is possible or normal)
Derivation:
heaviness (the property of being comparatively great in weight)
Sense 23
Meaning:
Requiring or showing effort
Synonyms:
Context example:
the subject made for labored reading
Similar:
effortful (requiring great physical effort)
Sense 24
Meaning:
Characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort
Synonyms:
arduous; backbreaking; grueling; gruelling; hard; heavy; laborious; operose; punishing; toilsome
Context example:
set a punishing pace
Similar:
effortful (requiring great physical effort)
Derivation:
heaviness (unwelcome burdensome difficulty)
Sense 25
Meaning:
Lacking lightness or liveliness
Synonyms:
heavy; leaden
Context example:
a leaden conversation
Similar:
dull (lacking in liveliness or animation)
Derivation:
heaviness (an oppressive quality that is laborious and solemn and lacks grace or fluency)
Sense 26
Meaning:
(of sleep) deep and complete
Synonyms:
heavy; profound; sound; wakeless
Context example:
deep wakeless sleep
Similar:
deep (relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply)
Sense 27
Meaning:
In an advanced stage of pregnancy
Synonyms:
big; enceinte; expectant; gravid; great; heavy; large; with child
Context example:
was great with child
Similar:
pregnant (carrying developing offspring within the body or being about to produce new life)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Slowly as if burdened by much weight
Synonyms:
heavily; heavy
Context example:
time hung heavy on their hands
Context examples
There was a dull, heavy ache in his stomach, but it did not bother him so much.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
I got out a heavy shirt, new from the slop-chest and made from blanket goods.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Alpha heavy chain disease frequently progresses to large B-cell lymphoma, and normally has a poor prognosis.
(Alpha Heavy Chain Disease, NCI Thesaurus)
The Bernese Mountain Dog is a sturdy, heavy dog, with a weather-resistant, tri-color double coat.
(Bernese Mountain Dog, NCI Thesaurus)
The longish silky coat may be wavy or with large curls, with a heavy mane at the neck.
(Borzoi, NCI Thesaurus)
A question about whether an individual feels their breast is or was heavy.
(Breast Feels Heavy, NCI Thesaurus)
It was wide and heavy, and protruded outward and down until it seemed to rest on his chest.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Poetry, like music, stirred him profoundly, and, though he did not know it, he was preparing his mind for the heavier work that was to come.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
We were going up to the house, among some dark heavy trees, when he called after my conductor.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Heavy objects like cars sink into the muck, while buried water and sewer pipes rise to the surface.
(NASA Map Reveals a New Landslide Risk Factor, NASA)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Dog has to have its stomach full" (Azerbaijani proverb)
"When a door opens not to your knock, consider your reputation." (Arabic proverb)
"A closed mouth catches neither flies nor food." (Corsican proverb)