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)
-
to test the weight of by lifting and balancing.
He hefted the spear for a few moments, and then flung it at the foe.
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to heave; hoist.
verb
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to assess the weight of (something) by lifting
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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.
The knock against AWS, however, has been the perception that it lacked the heft required for training AI—which is what Colossus was designed to do best.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026
When a term like “mother” is employed so generously, it loses all substantive heft.
From Salon • May 10, 2026
Its new Vera Rubin chips are likely to start shipping in the second half of this year, adding more heft to the group’s expected outlook for 77% revenue growth over the April quarter.
From Barron's • May 1, 2026
The roadmap, which was approved by the previous board and presented in February, aims to delist Mediobanca and combine its investment-banking heft and wealth-management business with Monte dei Paschi’s retail banking operations.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
The shavings had no real heft, it was like throwing a handful of loose snow.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
