heft
Americannoun
-
weight; heaviness.
It was a rather flimsy chair, without much heft to it.
-
significance or importance.
-
Archaic. the bulk or main part.
verb (used with object)
-
hefts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hefted,
past participle, past
-
hefting
present participle
-
to test the weight of by lifting and balancing.
He hefted the spear for a few moments, and then flung it at the foe.
-
to heave; hoist.
verb
-
to assess the weight of (something) by lifting
-
to lift
noun
-
weight
-
the main part
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
heftsimple
-
heftssimple
-
have heftedperfect
-
has heftedperfect
-
am heftingprogressive
-
are heftingprogressive
-
is heftingprogressive
-
have been heftingperfect progressive
-
has been heftingperfect progressive
Past
-
heftedsimple
-
had heftedperfect
-
was heftingprogressive
-
were heftingprogressive
-
had been heftingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of heft
Explanation
Heft is the bulk or weight of a person or thing. You might shift the heft of that huge bag of dog food you just bought over to your left arm while you use your right hand to open the door. The heft of your big suitcase might make you question the wisdom of packing so many books. You can use heft as a verb, too — you could move the books into your backpack and then heft it back onto your shoulder. Heft comes from the verb heave, "lift with effort," modeled on verb/noun combinations like "thieve" and "theft" or "weave" and "weft."
Vocabulary lists containing heft
"The Odyssey," Vocabulary from Part 2 of the epic poem
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Prisoner B-3087
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Wolf Hollow
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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:
With such sentiment and statistical heft, the reaction to Nvidia’s earnings can thus still shape the broader market.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
Unhappily what takes place onstage has little more dramatic heft and is almost as untethered to plausibility as the plot of a Meyers rom-com.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Neither do the costumes, which are flame retardant, and add additional heft.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Such heft would be an advantage in a rapidly changing payments ecosystem, which is poised to undergo further disruption from new tech like artificial intelligence and stablecoins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
In that moment, he would have given up half his share of the thirty million kruge for the familiar heft of his cane.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
This time, players are in the shoes of Gordon Freeman, who hefts his iconic crowbar as the game ends.
From The Verge ● Mar. 27, 2020
Or isn’t that what everyone experiences when Battulga Battogtokh, a strongman from Mongolia, hefts three women simultaneously?
From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2019
Your father hefts his pack onto his back and you smear zinc on your face, following him up the trail.
From Salon ● Jun. 17, 2018
“EVERYBODY thinks this is a 50-pound sack of seeds,” says Steven Fabijanski as he hefts a large white bag onto a table.
From Economist ● Mar. 1, 2018
Gale’s hands close around the very bow that caught my attention a moment ago, and he hefts it onto his shoulder.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Calculations of its hefted flight angle, altitude and length of flight suggested it had the range to reach the continental U.S. if fired on a conventional trajectory.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 19, 2023
So he hefted a ginormous statue of the Virgin Mary and walked on the water of the river Dnieper to get it out of harm’s way.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2022
To demonstrate the magnitude of this Borgesian Library of Babel, Cruz reached beneath his desk and hefted up a tower of four little books.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 23, 2022
Diaz, 30, said that her record-breaking 127 kilogram lift in the clean and jerk event was the first time she had successfully hefted that much weight.
From New York Times ● Jul. 26, 2021
Our combined momentum sent us right into the small group of men just as they hefted a barrel of tea toward the top deck.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
She prepares dinner, then hurries to an Amazon warehouse for a 6 1/2-hour shift sorting, scanning and hefting bulky items.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 10, 2026
Other footage shows Scouts hefting umbrellas as they line up in the sun for facilities, and flooding convenience stores to buy ice and ice cream.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 4, 2023
Taking a break from hefting bricks, Tica told The Associated Press that he had been working to loosen the earth with a metal rod when the ground suddenly began to collapse.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2022
A photographer saw a man hefting the statuette and stopped him and relieved him of the Oscar.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2022
People began moving around us, hefting their books and packs.
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
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.
