heavyweight
Americanadjective
-
of more than average weight or thickness.
a coat of heavyweight material.
-
noting or pertaining to a boxer, wrestler, etc., of the heaviest competitive class, especially a professional boxer weighing more than 175 pounds (79.4 kilograms).
-
of or relating to the weight class or division of such boxers.
a heavyweight bout.
-
(of a riding horse, especially a hunter) able to carry up to 205 pounds (93 kilograms).
-
designating a person, company, nation, or other entity that is extremely powerful, influential, or important.
a team of heavyweight lawyers.
noun
-
heavyweights
plural
-
a person of more than average weight.
-
a heavyweight boxer or wrestler.
-
a person, company, nation, or other entity that is powerful and influential.
a price hike initiated by the heavyweights in the industry.
noun
-
a person or thing that is heavier than average
-
-
a professional boxer weighing more than 175 pounds (79 kg)
-
an amateur boxer weighing more than 81 kg (179 pounds)
-
( as modifier )
the world heavyweight championship
-
-
a wrestler in a similar weight category (usually over 214 pounds (97 kg))
-
informal an important or highly influential person
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of heavyweight
Explanation
A heavyweight is someone or something that is impressive in relative size or importance. In sports like boxing and wrestling, a heavyweight is a contestant in the group that includes the largest, heaviest competitors. Heavyweight, a compound word formed by joining heavy and weight, was first used in the late 1700s to categorize long-distance race horses who could carry heavier-than-average riders and gear. The sports meaning soon followed, with boxers sorted into lightweight, middleweight, or heavyweight divisions to ensure, for example, that a 225-pound athlete wouldn't be matched against a 130-pound opponent. Figuratively, this word describes an impressive or prominent figure — you might say that a powerful senior lawmaker is a heavyweight in the Senate.
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.
See Examples For:
“It was a heavyweight fight,” Nickerson said of the first half.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
"George Chuvalo was a heavyweight boxing legend, a family friend and a Canadian icon," Ontario Premier Doug Ford wrote on social media.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
In this corner, the reigning heavyweight champ: a version of every Oscar-baiting, prestige movie you’ve ever seen.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Now the Wall Street heavyweight is lining up behind the Lone Star State’s effort to displace Delaware as the corporate capital of America.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
He was a historian of boxing lore and could narrate all twenty-six rounds of Jack Johnson’s famous bout in Havana in 1915 when the first black heavyweight champion of the world lost his title.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
He made headlines in September 2005 when he was named best hip-hop act at the Mobo awards - defeating US heavyweights such as 50 Cent and the Game.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Racking up defensive clean sheets while operating further forward than his listed position suggested, cheap as you like, and even doing it against league heavyweights Manchester City, where he scored twice for 17 points.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
He said San Francisco assembled political heavyweights to support its bid; he instead brought department heads to the table — “the people they’re actually going to work with.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
Flyweights and heavyweights have similar footing, and the funds must be rebalanced quarterly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
These days those prizefighters'd be professional heavyweights or riot police or somethin', but times was diff’rent.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
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.
