heavily

adverb

heavi·​ly ˈhe-və-lē 

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

Becoming so heavily reliant on any provider’s service that your business depends on them is a bad move. —Bernard Marr, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025

Since the early 2010s, Disney has embarked on a live-action feature strategy that relied heavily on returning to its library and repurposing its old titles. —Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 3 Apr. 2025

Like others around the country, it is heavily backlogged. —Ryan Oehrli, Charlotte Observer, 3 Apr. 2025

That could weigh more heavily on the economy and labor market in coming months as laid off workers struggle to pay bills and pull back spending. —Paul Davidson, USA Today, 3 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing heavily

• heavily armed

Rhymes for heavily

• evilly