featherweight

[feth -er-weyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR featherweight ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a boxer or other contestant intermediate in weight between a bantamweight and a lightweight, especially a professional boxer weighing up to 126 pounds (57 kg).

an insignificant person or thing: He thinks he's a major composer, but he's just a featherweight.

adjective

belonging to the class of featherweights, especially in boxing.

extremely light in weight: a featherweight quilt.

unimportant; trifling; slight.

Origin of featherweight

First recorded in 1805–15; feather + weight

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for featherweight

agile, slight, buoyant, fluffy, loose, slender, delicate, easy, lightweight, small, airy, thin, fragile, slim, lean, meager, gaunt, skinny, narrow, trivial

Examples from the Web for featherweight

Contemporary Examples of featherweight

These featherweight savory gruyere-laced pastries are ubiquitous in Burgundy.
A Burgundy Wine Feast
Sophie Menin
July 4, 2010
Kitamura, a featherweight at most, might seem a awkward messenger for the material.
How to Fight Like a Girl
Will Doig
August 19, 2009

Historical Examples of featherweight

With the featherweight the swing is very liable to get out of gear.
The Complete Golfer [1905]
Harry Vardon
Some canoeists take with them a suit of featherweight oilskin.
Packing and Portaging
Dillon Wallace
That was not a difficult feat since she was but a featherweight.
The Phantom Town Mystery
Carol Norton
I am not as strong as I once was so I bought a featherweight one.
The Modern Pistol and How to Shoot It
Walter Winans
Adams laughed, took the thing up with one hand, and raised it to his shoulder as though it had been a featherweight.
The Pools of Silence
H. de Vere Stacpoole

British Dictionary definitions for featherweight

featherweight

noun

something very light or of little importance
(as modifier)featherweight considerations

a professional boxer weighing 118–126 pounds (53.5–57 kg)
an amateur boxer weighing 54–57 kg (119–126 pounds)
(as modifier)the featherweight challenger

a wrestler in a similar weight category (usually 126–139 pounds (57–63 kg))

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for featherweight

also feather-weight, the lightest allowable, 1812 (earlier as simply feather, 1760), from feather (n.) + weight. Originally in horse-racing; boxing use dates from 1889.