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definitions

lightweight

[lahyt-weyt]
See more synonyms for lightweight on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. light in weight.
  2. being lighter in weight, texture, etc., than another item or object of identical use, quality, or function: a lightweight topcoat; a lightweight alloy for ship construction.
  3. without seriousness of purpose; trivial or trifling: lightweight reading.
  4. of or relating to a lightweight: He's the new lightweight contender.
  5. (of a horse, especially a hunter) able to carry up to 165 pounds (75 kg).
noun
  1. a person of less than average weight.
  2. Informal. a person who is of little influence, importance, or effect.
  3. a boxer or other contestant intermediate in weight between a featherweight and a welterweight, especially a professional boxer weighing between 126 and 135 pounds (56.7–61 kg).

Origin of lightweight

First recorded in 1765–75; light2 + weight
Related formsul·tra·light·weight, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for lightweight

petty, slight, failing, incompetent, trifling, featherweight, foolish, insignificant, paltry, trivial, unimportant, worthless, weightless

Examples from the Web for lightweight

Contemporary Examples of lightweight

Historical Examples of lightweight

  • I should like him to be a lightweight, so as to be able to ride with me.

  • He entered in the lightweight class in the Harvard Gymnasium, March 22, 1879.

    Theodore Roosevelt

    Edmund Lester Pearson

  • At any rate our lightweight is one point in our favour, and another is our light-hands.

  • He was a football player and a lightweight boxer of no mean ability.

    The Rope of Gold

    Roy J. Snell

  • Many in fact would have had no hesitation in classing him as a lightweight.

British Dictionary definitions for lightweight

lightweight

adjective
  1. of a relatively light weight
  2. not serious; trivial
noun
  1. a person or animal of a relatively light weight
    1. a professional boxer weighing 130–135 pounds (59–61 kg)
    2. an amateur boxer weighing 57–60 kg (126–132 pounds)
    3. (as modifier)the lightweight contender
  3. a wrestler in a similar weight category (usually 115–126 pounds (52–57 kg))
  4. informal a person of little importance or influence
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for lightweight
adj.

also light-weight, 1773 in horse-racing, also in pugilism; from light (adj.1) + weight. Figurative sense of "inconsequential" first attested 1809.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper