weighty
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
having a lot of weight; heavy and difficult to lift.
having considerable physical weight or mass.
Simple“He struggled to carry the weighty boxes up the three flights of stairs.”
In context“The delivery driver required a trolley to move the weighty crates of machinery from the loading dock to the warehouse floor.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
very important and serious; not something to be treated lightly.
possessing great significance, influence, or importance; not trivial.
Simple“The committee has a weighty decision to make about the school's future.”
In context“The prime minister addressed several weighty matters of national security during the emergency cabinet meeting this afternoon.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
difficult to deal with or causing a lot of worry.
burdensome, rigorous, or severe in nature; often used to describe responsibilities or consequences.
Simple“She felt the weighty responsibility of looking after her younger siblings.”
In context“The judge acknowledged the weighty burden of proof required in such a complex criminal litigation.”
Synonyms
“India's top judges often make news for their rulings or pronunciations on weighty matters of law.”
From Middle English weighti, weghti, wighti, equivalent to weight + -y. Cognate with Scots weichty, wechty, wichty, Saterland Frisian wichtich, West Frisian wichtich, Dutch wichtig, gewichtig, German wichtig, Danish vigtig, Swedish viktig. Compare typologically Russian ве́ский (véskij), весо́мый (vesómyj) (< вес (ves)). Also compare the same meaning development from cognate (by borrowing) Polish waga (< ... < Proto-Germanic *wēgō): ważny (whence Russian ва́жный (vážnyj)).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.