heavyweight
Americanadjective
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of more than average weight or thickness.
a coat of heavyweight material.
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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).
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of or relating to the weight class or division of such boxers.
a heavyweight bout.
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(of a riding horse, especially a hunter) able to carry up to 205 pounds (93 kilograms).
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designating a person, company, nation, or other entity that is extremely powerful, influential, or important.
a team of heavyweight lawyers.
noun
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a person of more than average weight.
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a heavyweight boxer or wrestler.
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a person, company, nation, or other entity that is powerful and influential.
a price hike initiated by the heavyweights in the industry.
noun
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a person or thing that is heavier than average
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a professional boxer weighing more than 175 pounds (79 kg)
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an amateur boxer weighing more than 81 kg (179 pounds)
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( as modifier )
the world heavyweight championship
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a wrestler in a similar weight category (usually over 214 pounds (97 kg))
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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.
Former world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua has been discharged from hospital, state officials said Wednesday, after surviving a car accident in Nigeria that killed two of his close friends.
From Barron's • Jan. 1, 2026
Both state governments have been overseeing the two-time heavyweight boxing world champion's treatment since the crash on Monday.
From Barron's • Jan. 1, 2026
It looked more like spring break than heavyweight boxing.
From BBC • Dec. 19, 2025
George Foreman, two-time heavyweight boxing champ who became the face of a grilling machine empire, died Friday night at the age of 76.
From Salon • Mar. 22, 2025
In the final days before the Poughkeepsie Regatta, another big sports story dominated the headlines on sports pages and sometimes on front pages around the country—the story of a heavyweight boxing match.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
