Also spelled eavy

US /ˈhev.i/ UK /ˈhɛv.i/
adj Freq #1318

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    Weighing a lot; hard to lift or move.

    This box is too heavy for me to carry alone.

  2. 2
    adj

    Greater than usual in amount or number.

    There was heavy traffic on the way home.

  3. 3
    adj

    Very strong, powerful, or forceful.

    He gave the door a heavy blow with his fist.

  4. 4
    adj

    Needing or showing a lot of effort.

    I could hear his heavy breathing after the climb.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
4 adj · needing or showing a lot of... laboredlaboured
More swearsweer
Opposites
Word family
Forms heavierheaviesheaviest
Derived forms heavier-than-airheavilyheavinessheavisomeheavy-armedheavy-beardedheavy-browedheavy-coatedheavy-dutyheavy-footheavy-footedheavy-handed
Related forms heaveheft

Common collocations

Etymology

From Middle English hevy, heviȝ, from Old English hefiġ, hefeġ, hæfiġ (“heavy; important, grave, severe, serious; oppressive, grievous; slow, dull”), from Proto-West Germanic *habīg (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Germanic *habīgaz (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to take, grasp, hold”). Related to have. Cognate with Scots hevy, havy, heavy (“heavy”), Saterland Frisian heeuwich, häwich (“violent, angry”), West Frisian hevich (“violent”), Dutch hevig (“violent, severe, intense, acute”), German Low German hevig (“violent, fierce, intense, angry”), German hebig (c…

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