weighty
Americanadjective
-
having considerable weight; heavy; ponderous.
a weighty bundle.
- Antonyms:
- light
-
burdensome or troublesome.
the weightier cares of sovereignty.
-
important or momentous.
weighty negotiations.
- Synonyms:
- consequential, grave, serious, significant
- Antonyms:
- unimportant, light
-
having or exerting influence, power, etc.; influential.
a weighty merchant of Boston.
adjective
-
having great weight
-
important or momentous
-
causing anxiety or worry
Synonym Usage
See heavy.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of weighty
Explanation
Weighty things are either very heavy or extremely important and worrisome. Putting your weighty cat on a diet might be a weighty issue that nags at you. If your luggage is too weighty, you'll have to pay an extra fee at the airport. And if you've got a mind full of weighty problems, you won't be able to fall asleep on your long flight. Sometimes this adjective is also used to mean "influential," like the weighty influence your SAT scores might have on your chances of being accepted at a competitive college.
Vocabulary lists containing weighty
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:
This weighty destiny also explains why the Higashi villagers went out of their way to keep Yuru close.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
The Declaration is a weighty and world-altering document, but America is more complicated than a set of ideas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is the headline speaker at Asia's premier defence summit opening Friday, but China's top officials aren't expected despite weighty questions like Taiwan and the war in Iran.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
"The right balance must be struck between individual rights and interests and the weighty public interests of defending freedom and security," it says.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
Even the Matching of Spouses was given such weighty consideration that sometimes an adult who applied to receive a spouse waited months or even years before a Match was approved and announced.
From "The Giver" by Lois Lowry
A couple of the disputes are a bit weightier than a question of whether someone’s yard goes to here . . . or to here.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
The couple are set to return to the presidential residence, but this time Mutharika's in-tray will be far weightier.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2025
It feels even weightier on today of all days — “How deep is the ocean, I’ve lost my way.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2025
Gadd’s comedic prowess assists in cutting through some of the weightier content, while Bailey’s assemblage of carefully curated costumes brings the show to life, visually speaking.
From Salon ● May 16, 2024
Their thoughts were occupied by weightier names: world-record holder Indian Broom; speed demon Special Agent; and above them all, the magnificent Rosemont, king of the East and conqueror of 1935 Triple Crown winner Omaha.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
The city's historically lucrative wholesale and retail trade remains one of its weightiest sectors, accounting for almost 25 percent of GDP in the first nine months of 2024.
From Barron's ● Mar. 1, 2026
For nearly 500 years the Court of Session has considered the thorniest and weightiest matters of the moment.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2023
Opinionpalooza, aka June, aka the end of the Supreme Court term, when the year’s weightiest opinions tend to come out.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2023
Admittedly, the lawsuit — essentially, a dispute among insurers over the bill for all that cracked fiberglass and teak — won’t be the weightiest matter heard in federal court in Seattle.
From Seattle Times ● May 28, 2023
But none the less I will show and tell and teach you the four weightiest matters that a knight should know and hold to all his life, if he would fain win honour.
From Tales from the Old French by Various
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.
