1
: having the top part too heavy for the lower part
2
: having too high a proportion of administrators
a top-heavy bureaucracy
3
: oversupplied with one element at the expense of others : lacking balance
a novel top-heavy with description

Examples of top-heavy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Given the top-heavy nature of the market-cap indices, the giant companies that are leading the AI boom could weigh heavily on the market in a reversal of sentiment. Garth Friesen, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2024 Across the globe, the march to low fertility, and now to super-low birthrates, is creating top-heavy population pyramids, in which the old begin to outnumber the young. Nicholas Eberstadt, Foreign Affairs, 10 Oct. 2024 Essentially, as the system becomes more top-heavy with network depth, or the length of a sequence or some kind of state complexity, these changes can slow down or even stop training in networks that use backpropagation. John Werner, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024 Lineup depth For long stretches this year, the Dodgers’ offense was glaringly top-heavy. Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for top-heavy 

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1531, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of top-heavy was circa 1531

Dictionary Entries Near top-heavy

Cite this Entry

“Top-heavy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/top-heavy. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

top-heavy

adjective
ˈtäp-ˌhev-ē
: having the top part too heavy for the lower part

More from Merriam-Webster on top-heavy

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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