top-heavy

American  

[top-hev-ee] / ˈtɒpˌhɛv i /

adjective

1. having the top disproportionately heavy; liable to fall from too great weight above.

2. relatively much heavier or larger above the center or waist than below.

   a top-heavy wrestler.

3. Finance.

   1. having a financial structure overburdened with securities that have priority in the payment of dividends.

   2. overcapitalized.

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top-heavy British  

adjective

1. unstable or unbalanced through being overloaded at the top

2. finance (of an enterprise or its capital structure) characterized by or containing too much debt capital in relation to revenue or profit so that too little is left over for dividend distributions; overcapitalized

3. (of a business enterprise) having too many executives

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Other Word Forms

• top-heavily adverb
• top-heaviness noun

Etymology

Origin of top-heavy

First recorded in 1525–35; top ¹ + heavy

Example Sentences

Sometimes criticized as a top-heavy league, the Big Ten will cap its season with a showdown between its two undisputed heavyweights: No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana.

From The Wall Street Journal

Investors like Bahnsen who are skeptical of Silicon Valley’s spending spree believe that a top-heavy market reliant on periodic moments of dip-buying is bound to tip over.

From The Wall Street Journal

But the weight of the obelisk on even a very large vessel would make it top-heavy and unstable.

From Literature

Investors are worried that the enthusiasm around artificial intelligence has propelled the S&P 500 to a series of record highs this year that have left it both richly valued and extremely top-heavy.

From MarketWatch

Investment, he said, needed to be in "the right places" not "top-heavy organisations".

From BBC

Related Words

• cumbersome
• imbalanced
• overloaded
• unbalanced