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Synonyms

featherweight

American  
[feth-er-weyt] / ˈfɛð ərˌweɪt /

noun

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

  2. an insignificant person or thing.

    He thinks he's a major composer, but he's just a featherweight.

adjective

  1. belonging to the class of featherweights, especially in boxing.

  2. extremely light in weight.

    a featherweight quilt.

  3. unimportant; trifling; slight.

featherweight British  
/ ˈfɛðəˌweɪt /

noun

    1. something very light or of little importance

    2. ( as modifier )

      featherweight considerations

    1. a professional boxer weighing 118–126 pounds (53.5–57 kg)

    2. an amateur boxer weighing 54–57 kg (119–126 pounds)

    3. ( as modifier )

      the featherweight challenger

  3. 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

Etymology

Origin of featherweight

First recorded in 1805–15; feather + weight

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The 30-year-old won featherweight gold for Chinese Taipei at the 2024 Olympics in Paris but, alongside Algeria's welterweight champion Imane Khelif, became embroiled in an eligibility row.

From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026

Lerone Murphy says the winner of his bout with Movsar Evloev at UFC London on Saturday should be next in line to fight for the featherweight title and it "shouldn't be any other way".

From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026

Both Chefs Huang and O’Brien described the cut as “more forgiving” than white meat, which has made it popular among professional chefs and featherweight home cooks alike.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

A former featherweight champion, he earned the lightweight belt last year by knocking out Brazil's Charles Oliveira before temporarily stepping away from the sport for personal reasons.

From Barron's • Mar. 8, 2026

What Cavendish was trying to do was measure gravity at this extremely featherweight level.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.