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heavy

adj.
A2 Elementary Oxford US //ˈhɛvi// UK //hˈɛvi// heavy Archaic Dialect General-service Informal Slang

adj. having a lot of weight. You use this to describe things that are difficult to lift or move.

adj. possessing great weight; difficult to lift or move due to mass. Often used figuratively to describe something intense, serious, or substantial in quantity.


SIMPLE

This suitcase is too heavy for me to carry alone.

CONTEXTUAL

The movers had to use a special trolley to transport the heavy oak desk up the stairs.

COMPLEX

Despite the heavy rainfall and the weight of their saturated gear, the hikers continued their ascent toward the summit before nightfall.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology 1

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”). 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)).

Etymology 2

From heave + -y.

Usage

Typically placed before the noun it modifies or after a linking verb like 'be' or 'feel'.

Idioms11 entries

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