weightiness C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /ˈweɪ.ti.nəs/ UK /ˈweɪ.ti.nəs/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the quality of being heavy, serious, or of great importance The weightiness of the decision kept the council debating late. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the quality of being heavy,... heavinessgravityseriousnessimportancesignificanceimportmoment ↔ Opposites lightnesstrivialityfrivolityinsignificance Word family Related forms weightyweightweigh Etymology AI details From weighty + the noun-forming suffix -ness, ultimately from Old English wiht ('weight') and wegan ('to carry, weigh'). wegan Old English *weǵʰ- Proto-Indo-European View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # weightiness **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈweɪ.ti.nəs/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈweɪ.ti.nəs/ ## Meanings 1. the quality of being heavy, serious, or of great importance ## Examples - The weightiness of the decision kept the council debating late. ## Synonyms - heaviness - gravity - seriousness - importance - significance - import - moment ## Antonyms - lightness - triviality - frivolity - insignificance ## Related Forms - weighty - weight - weigh ## Roots and Affixes - Root: wegan - Root: *weǵʰ- ## Etymology From weighty + the noun-forming suffix -ness, ultimately from Old English wiht ('weight') and wegan ('to carry, weigh'). ## AI Etymology Weightiness comes from weighty + the noun-forming suffix -ness, ultimately from Old English wiht ('weight') and wegan ('to carry, weigh'). In current use it is a noun meaning "the quality of being heavy, serious, or of great importance". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The suffix -ness turns a quality into a noun of state, condition, or degree. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The historical chain includes Old English wegan and Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-. Related English forms include weighty, weight, and weigh. The word's history is thus visible in its construction: the components remain interpretable even after the whole expression has settled into a conventional English meaning. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown