1
: to a great degree : severely
2
: slowly and laboriously : dully
3
archaic
: with sorrow : grievously
4
: in a heavy manner
Synonyms
- achingly
- almighty
- archly
- awful
- awfully
- badly
- beastly
- blisteringly
- bone
- colossally
- corking
- cracking
- damn
- damned
- dang
- deadly
- desperately
- eminently
- enormously
- especially
- ever
- exceedingly
- exceeding
- extra
- extremely
- fabulously
- fantastically
- far
- fiercely
- filthy
- frightfully
- full
- greatly
- highly
- hugely
- immensely
- incredibly
- intensely
- jolly
- majorly
- mightily
- mighty
- monstrous [chiefly dialect]
- mortally
- most
- much
- particularly
- passing
- rattling
- real
- really
- right
- roaring
- roaringly
- seriously
- severely
- so
- sore
- sorely
- spanking
- specially
- stinking
- such
- super
- supremely
- surpassingly
- terribly
- that
- thumping
- too
- unco
- uncommonly
- vastly
- very
- vitally
- way
- whacking
- wicked
- wildly
Examples of heavily in a Sentence
He relies heavily on his wife for advice.
These artists borrow heavily from Picasso.
Our flowers were heavily damaged by a late spring frost.
She drank and smoked heavily for years.
He sat down heavily on the couch.
He was leaning heavily on the table.
She sighed heavily then said “Okay, I'll do it.”
Recent Examples on the Web
There is a station adjacent to the Illinois Science and Technology Park, a large center of employment in the village, and the train line features heavily in efforts to redevelop a nearby commercial area.
—
Sarah Freishtat, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2024
Unable to replace them, some doctors say, hospital leaders are leaning too heavily on a handful of staffers to put in extreme hours.
—Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for heavily 
Sarah Freishtat, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2024
Unable to replace them, some doctors say, hospital leaders are leaning too heavily on a handful of staffers to put in extreme hours.
—Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for heavily
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'heavily.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near heavily
Cite this Entry
“Heavily.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heavily. Accessed 20 May. 2024.
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