causing weariness, restlessness, or lack of interest
the study of history doesn't have to be all about dull heavy reading and the memorization of dates
How does the adjective heavy differ from other similar words?
Some common synonyms of heavy are cumbersome, cumbrous, ponderous, and weighty. While all these words mean "having great weight," heavy implies that something has greater density or thickness than the average of its kind or class.
a heavy child for his age
How are the words cumbrous and cumbersome related as synonyms of heavy?
Both cumbrous and cumbersome imply heaviness and bulkiness that make for difficulty in grasping, moving, carrying, or manipulating.
wrestled with the cumbrous furniture
early cameras were cumbersome and inconvenient
When could ponderous be used to replace heavy?
The meanings of ponderous and heavy largely overlap; however, ponderous implies having great weight because of size and massiveness with resulting great inertia.
ponderous elephants in a circus parade
Where would weighty be a reasonable alternative to heavy?
In some situations, the words weighty and heavy are roughly equivalent. However, weighty suggests having actual and not just relative weight.
a load of weighty boxes
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of heavy
Adjective
Construction vehicles beeped and chugged, and the intermittent buzz of saws mixed with the clang of heavy equipment.—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
13 Aug. 2026 Separate flash flood warnings were also issued for parts of Decatur and Rush counties, where heavy rain continued to create hazardous travel conditions.—
Jen Guadarrama,
IndyStar,
13 Aug. 2026
Noun
Most standard blends are nitrogen-heavy, which encourages leaf growth instead of fruit.—
Nishaa Sharma,
The Spruce,
20 June 2026 In a wide-ranging conversation for Entertainment Weekly's cover story on the latest entry in the horror parody franchise, Faris looked back on her time making the stunt-heavy threequel in 2003.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for heavy
Those include Japan’s massive debt that exceeds 200% of GDP, fiscal stimulus that’s expected to worsen the deficit, and a central bank that’s been slow to raise rates in the face of high inflation.
—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
15 Aug. 2026
With two outs, Junior Caminero hit a slow roller on a 1-2 slider that third baseman Encarnacion-Strand could not field cleanly for a run-scoring infield single.
That means my greasy microfiber cloths do get washed with my cotton drying towels, along with oven mitts, linen napkins, and the seat pads for my counter stools (my kids somehow manage to trash them every week).
—
Emily Farris,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
11 Aug. 2026
In response, Diez brought up Schaeffler’s plant in South Carolina, where Digit is working right now, loading greasy machine parts into an industrial washer.
His preference for a 4-2-3-1 has been evident, however, and the German is looking for Newcastle to be aggressive in the press, intensive and also direct, with a plan to get the ball forward as quickly as possible.
—
Chris Weatherspoon,
New York Times,
14 Aug. 2026
If the electricity required to operate the system comes from carbon-intensive sources, some of the benefits of capturing atmospheric CO₂ are lost.
—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
13 Aug. 2026
The shortcomings of Usman and Dvalishvili, future Hall of Famers, only point to how difficult the historic mark was to reach.
—
Mark Puleo,
New York Times,
16 Aug. 2026
The Teamsters have been enthusiastically endorsing the bill specifically because, while 40-something employers would be difficult to collectively bargain against, DSP workers would be much easier to organize once within Amazon.
—
Tiana Lowe Doescher,
The Washington Examiner,
15 Aug. 2026
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