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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

heavy.

Having great weight.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈhɛv.i/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈhev.i/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. Having great weight.

    Can you help me carry this? It's really heavy.
    Use the scales to measure how heavy it is.
  2. Having great weight. Heavyset: overweight.

    When he was a child he was rather heavy, but today he is impressively fit.
  3. Serious, somber.

  4. Not easy to bear; burdensome; oppressive.

    heavy yokes, expenses, undertakings, trials, news, etc.
  5. Good.

    UK · dated · slang
    This film is heavy.
  6. Profound.

    US · dated
    The Moody Blues are, like, heavy.
  7. High, great.

  8. Armed.

    slang
    Come heavy, or not at all.
  9. Loud, distorted, or intense.

    Metal is heavier than rock.
  10. Hot and humid.

  11. Doing the specified activity more intensely than most other people.

    This car is too heavy on gas.
    He was a heavy sleeper, a heavy eater and a heavy smoker – certainly not an ideal husband.
  12. With eyelids difficult to keep open due to tiredness.

  13. High in fat or protein; difficult to digest.

    Cheese-stuffed sausage is too heavy to eat before exercising.
  14. Of great force, power, or intensity; deep or intense.

    it was a heavy storm; a heavy slumber in bed; a heavy punch
  15. Laden with that which is weighty; encumbered; burdened; bowed down, either with an actual burden, or with grief, pain, disappointment, etc.

    his eyes were heavy with sleep; she was heavy with child
  16. Slow; sluggish; inactive; or lifeless, dull, inanimate, stupid.

    a heavy gait, looks, manners, style, etc.
    a heavy writer or book
  17. Impeding motion; cloggy; clayey.

  18. Not raised or leavened.

    heavy bread
  19. Having much body or strength.

  20. With child; pregnant.

    obsolete
  21. Containing one or more isotopes that are heavier than the normal one.

    heavy water
  22. Of petroleum, having high viscosity.

  23. Of a market: in which the price of shares is declining.

  24. Heavily-armed.

  25. Having a relatively high takeoff weight and payload.

  26. Having a relatively high takeoff weight and payload. Having a maximum takeoff weight exceeding 300,000 pounds, as almost all widebodies do, generating high wake turbulence.

    specifically
Where this word comes from

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. Cognate with Scots hevy, havy, heavy (“heavy”), Saterland Frisian heeuwich, häwich (“violent, angry”), West Frisian hevich (“violent”), Dutch hevig (“violent, severe, intense, acute”), German Low German hevig (“violent, fierce, intense, angry”), German hebig (compare heftig (“fierce, severe, intense, violent, heavy”)), Icelandic höfugur (“heavy, weighty, important”), Latin capāx (“large, wide, roomy, spacious, capacious, capable, apt”). Compare typologically Russian объёмный (obʺjómnyj), ёмкий (jómkij) (akin to име́ть (imétʹ), взять (vzjatʹ)).

adv/ˈhɛv.i/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈhev.i/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. In a heavy manner; weightily; heavily; gravely.

  2. To a great degree; greatly.

    colloquial · nonstandard
  3. very

    India · colloquial
Where this word comes from

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. Cognate with Scots hevy, havy, heavy (“heavy”), Saterland Frisian heeuwich, häwich (“violent, angry”), West Frisian hevich (“violent”), Dutch hevig (“violent, severe, intense, acute”), German Low German hevig (“violent, fierce, intense, angry”), German hebig (compare heftig (“fierce, severe, intense, violent, heavy”)), Icelandic höfugur (“heavy, weighty, important”), Latin capāx (“large, wide, roomy, spacious, capacious, capable, apt”). Compare typologically Russian объёмный (obʺjómnyj), ёмкий (jómkij) (akin to име́ть (imétʹ), взять (vzjatʹ)).

noun/ˈhɛv.i/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈhev.i/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. A villain or bad guy; the one responsible for evil or aggressive acts.

    slang
    With his wrinkled, uneven face, the actor always seemed to play the heavy in films.
  2. A doorman, bouncer or bodyguard.

    slang
    A fight started outside the bar but the heavies came out and stopped it.
  3. A prominent figure; a "major player".

  4. A newspaper of the quality press.

    in-plural · slang
  5. A relatively large multi-engined aircraft.

  6. A serious theatrical role.

    archaic · slang
  7. A member of the heavy cavalry.

    historical
Where this word comes from

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. Cognate with Scots hevy, havy, heavy (“heavy”), Saterland Frisian heeuwich, häwich (“violent, angry”), West Frisian hevich (“violent”), Dutch hevig (“violent, severe, intense, acute”), German Low German hevig (“violent, fierce, intense, angry”), German hebig (compare heftig (“fierce, severe, intense, violent, heavy”)), Icelandic höfugur (“heavy, weighty, important”), Latin capāx (“large, wide, roomy, spacious, capacious, capable, apt”). Compare typologically Russian объёмный (obʺjómnyj), ёмкий (jómkij) (akin to име́ть (imétʹ), взять (vzjatʹ)).

verb/ˈhɛv.i/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈhev.i/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. To make heavier.

    often
    They piled their goods on the donkey's back, heavying up an already backbreaking load.
  2. To sadden.

  3. To use power or wealth to exert influence on, e.g., governments or corporations; to pressure.

    Australia · New-Zealand · informal
    The union was well known for the methods it used to heavy many businesses.
Where this word comes from

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. Cognate with Scots hevy, havy, heavy (“heavy”), Saterland Frisian heeuwich, häwich (“violent, angry”), West Frisian hevich (“violent”), Dutch hevig (“violent, severe, intense, acute”), German Low German hevig (“violent, fierce, intense, angry”), German hebig (compare heftig (“fierce, severe, intense, violent, heavy”)), Icelandic höfugur (“heavy, weighty, important”), Latin capāx (“large, wide, roomy, spacious, capacious, capable, apt”). Compare typologically Russian объёмный (obʺjómnyj), ёмкий (jómkij) (akin to име́ть (imétʹ), взять (vzjatʹ)).

adj/ˈhiːvi/
  1. Having the heaves.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree substratebor.? Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Germanic *habjaną Proto-West Germanic *habbjan Old English hebban Middle English heven English heave English -y English heavy From heave + -y.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.