heavily
Americanadverb
-
with a great weight or burden.
a heavily loaded wagon.
-
in a manner suggestive of carrying a great weight; ponderously; lumberingly.
He walked heavily across the room.
-
in an oppressive manner.
Cares weigh heavily upon him.
-
to suffer heavily.
-
densely; thickly.
heavily wooded.
-
in large amounts or in great quantities; very much.
It rained heavily on Tuesday.
-
without animation or vigor; in a dull manner; sluggishly.
Other Word Forms
- overheavily adverb
- unheavily adverb
Etymology
Origin of heavily
First recorded before 900; Middle English hevyly, Old English hefiglīce; equivalent to heavy + -ly
Explanation
Anything that happens heavily is weighty, extensive, or labored. A car falling off its jack will crash heavily to the ground, and if you are a new runner, you'll be breathing heavily after the first mile. Sometimes the adverb heavily simply describes the action of something heavy — like kids' feet pounding heavily up the stairs, or an airplane landing heavily on the runway. There's also the "large amount" or "a lot" meaning, like when rain falls heavily or a director is heavily influenced by the cartoons of her childhood. Breathing heavily, on the other hand, means "with effort."
Vocabulary lists containing heavily
"Too Young to Drive?" and "Rules of the Road"
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 5
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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.
We ask Mr Explosive why the Epstein files feature so heavily in his videos.
From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026
And that ethos will likely be relied upon heavily since Heuermann's guilty pleas.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
Though it has been replenishing its product pipeline, Nike lost considerable ground to upstart rivals such as On and Hoka in recent years while relying too heavily on its Air Jordan franchise and other classics.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
Global Payments, 4.7 times earnings, and Fiserv, seven times, are heavily indebted players in a decidedly unsexy part of fintech: processing card payments for merchants.
From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026
He must have been heavily entangled, and maybe when the Columbian Guards had tried to tug it off him, the rope had only tightened further.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
