What does “heavy” mean?
- 1
adjectiveweighing a lot and hard to lift or carry
This box is too heavy for me to lift alone.
- 2
adjectivelarger, stronger or more serious than usual
Heavy rain caused flooding in several towns.
Heavy at a glance
- Part of speech
- adjective
- CEFR level
- A2 (elementary)
- Pronunciation
- /ˈhɛvi/ · HEV-ee
- Forms
- heavier, heaviest
How to use “heavy” correctly
English uses “heavy” for traffic, rain and smoking, not “strong”: say “heavy traffic”, not “strong traffic”.
Common phrases with “heavy”
- heavy rain
- heavy traffic
- a heavy smoker
- heavy bag
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Synonyms (similar meaning)
- weighty
- intense
Antonyms (opposite meaning)
Word family
- heavily
- heaviness
“heavy” is on these word lists
Learn these words next
- common adjectiveA2happening often or found in many places
- deep adjectiveA2going a long way down from the top or a long way in
- huge adjectiveA2extremely large in size, amount or degree
- low adjectiveA2not high, or close to the ground
- similar adjectiveA2almost the same but not exactly
- single adjectiveA2only one
- whole adjectiveA2all of something; complete
- wide adjectiveA2measuring a large distance from one side to the other