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
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Recent Examples of heavy
Adjective
But there's still plant life to be found, especially around the Hoanib River, an ephemeral river that only flows on the surface following heavy rain—though water persists underground both in the river and in springs.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
21 Oct. 2026 Modern hair oils blend botanical ingredients like argan, squalane and castor with lightweight silicones that seal the cuticle without the heavy, greasy feel of older formulas.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Kansas City Star,
21 Oct. 2026
Noun
The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the major averages, rising 2% for the week, while the S & P 500 jumped 1%.—
Alexa Lomonaco,
CNBC,
26 Sep. 2026 Trapped together in the heavy, stifling isolation of the summer heat, the siblings’ bond begins to shift into something unsettling and difficult to define.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
14 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for heavy
Toronto reacquired Leonard in an offseason trade after a salary cap-circumvention scandal that led to massive sanctions against the Clippers.
—
CBS News,
CBS News,
22 Oct. 2026
Pearson and his brother KeShaun are the two most prominent local opponents of Elon Musk’s xAI, a subsidiary of which has developed a massive data-center complex, provocatively named Colossus, in and around South Memphis.
—
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor,
New Yorker,
22 Oct. 2026
Even as the sense of a hazy disturbance in the force lingers, Burkholder’s approximately three-minute statement at least demystified some of the curious situation.
—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
23 Oct. 2026
The band frequently steers the poppy songwriting offroad by leaning into distortion and ambience, creating moments of both near-mania and hazy unease.
Just a half-hour north of San Diego, the property is comprised of over 600 acres of hills, meadows, Japanese gardens, and citrus groves, including 30 miles of private hiking trails and five acres of bio-intensive gardens.
—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
22 Oct. 2026
On the cost side, Zuckerberg did acknowledge that Muse is currently very compute-intensive.
The Tallahassee Police Department said in a statement that 11 of the 12 were shot and that three victims had serious injuries, with one minor in serious condition.
—
Samantha Cookinham,
NBC news,
25 Oct. 2026
Bake this classic all the way through for a light and tender crumb, or cut the bake time short for serious gooey goodness in the center.
—
Mary Shannon Wells,
Southern Living,
25 Oct. 2026
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