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
Midwestern oil refineries are heavily dependent on Canadian crude.
—
Joe Hernandez, NPR, 2 Feb. 2025
Former President Joe Biden's tenure in the White House focused heavily on reducing the education debt burden for Americans.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 1 Feb. 2025
However, visibility is heavily dependent upon weather conditions since clear skies are always preferred for the best sight.
—Skyler Caruso, People.com, 31 Jan. 2025
Keith Siegel, 65 Keith Siegel, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was abducted with his wife, Aviva Siegel, from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, a communal farming village heavily damaged by the attack.
—Julia Frankel, Chicago Tribune, 31 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for heavily 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Joe Hernandez, NPR, 2 Feb. 2025
Former President Joe Biden's tenure in the White House focused heavily on reducing the education debt burden for Americans.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 1 Feb. 2025
However, visibility is heavily dependent upon weather conditions since clear skies are always preferred for the best sight.
—Skyler Caruso, People.com, 31 Jan. 2025
Keith Siegel, 65 Keith Siegel, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was abducted with his wife, Aviva Siegel, from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, a communal farming village heavily damaged by the attack.
—Julia Frankel, Chicago Tribune, 31 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for heavily
Dictionary Entries Near heavily
Cite this Entry
“Heavily.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heavily. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
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