heavy hitter

American  

noun

1. a baseball player who makes many extra-base hits.

2. a very important or influential person.

   the secretary of state and other heavy hitters.

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heavy hitter British  

noun

1. informal another term for big hitter

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heavy hitter Idioms  

1. An important or influential individual or organization. For example, This publishing house is one of the heavy hitters in the textbook industry. This expression originated in sports such as boxing, where it literally meant “hitting hard,” and was transferred to other enterprises in the mid-1900s.

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Other Word Forms

• heavy-hitter
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of heavy hitter

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

heavy hitter

Buatsi moves on, but with the likes of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - on this evidence - still looks steep.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025

The country icon’s always-stacked Outlaw Music Festival blows into the Gorge with arguably the heaviest of heavy hitter lineups this summer.

From Seattle Times ● May 20, 2024

It seemed as if every major urban entertainment heavy hitter were milling around the conspicuously luxurious modern house and vast grounds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2024

The clout in search makes Google a heavy hitter in the lucrative advertising market, its biggest revenue source.

From Reuters ● Oct. 30, 2023

A heavy hitter was up next, and at the first crack he sent a "hot liner" straight at Dick.

From Dick Hamilton's Cadet Days The Handicap of a Millionaire's Son by Howard R. Garis