Dictionary

weighty en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈweɪti/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English weighti, weghti, wighti, equivalent to weight + -y. Cognate with Scots weichty, wechty, wichty, Saterland Frisian wichtich, West Frisian wichtich, Dutch wichtig, gewichtig, German wichtig, Danish vigtig, Swedish viktig. Compare typologically Russian ве́ский (véskij), весо́мый (vesómyj) (< вес (ves)). Also compare the same meaning development from cognate (by borrowing) Polish waga (< ... < Proto-Germanic *wēgō): ważny (whence Russian ва́жный (vážnyj)).

Meanings

1. Having a lot of weight; heavy.
   • To fund the purchase, he had to sell a late Renoir, The Judgment of Paris, with its depiction of weighty ladies frolicking in a roseate garden. 2018, Thom Nickels, Philadelphia Mansions: Stories and Characters behind the Walls:
   • And so a weighty rock she aimed / With much enthusiasm 1898, Guy Wetmore Carryl, The Confiding Peasant and the Maladroit Bear:
2. (figuratively) Important; serious; not trivial or petty.
   • a weighty argument
   • But I have now reached a point in the progress of my narrative, when it becomes necessary to turn away from these light descriptions, to the more grave and weighty matter of the second battle with Master Tibeats, and the flight through the great Pacoudrie Swamp. 1853, Solomon Northup, chapter IX, in [David Wilson], editor, Twelve Years a Slave. […], London: Sampson Low, Son & Co.; Auburn, N.Y.: Derby and Miller, →OCLC, page 130:
3. Rigorous; severe; afflictive.

Forms

Deriveds

weightily · unweighty · weightiness

Synonyms

sombre · sober · austere · staid · sweer · demure · sedate · frightful · somber · weightsome · weighty · stern · grave · sad · earnest · lack-laughter · serious · solemn · thoughtful · grave · sage · grievous · saturnine · solemn · solemncholy

Translations (53)

nl gewichtig (heavy) · ro important (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · eo pezega (heavy) · nn vektig (important; serious) · az tutarlı (important; serious) · bg тежък (heavy) · ka მძიმე (heavy) · cs velký (heavy) · ro greu (heavy) · nn vektig (heavy) · de schwergewichtig (important; serious) · es pesado (heavy) · nl zwaarwegend (heavy) · sv stark (important; serious) · es importante (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · sa गुरु (heavy) · bg съществен (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · cs vážný (important; serious) · bg убедителен (important; serious) · io grava (heavy) · bg важен (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · ka სერიოზული (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · cs objemný (heavy) · sv tung (important; serious) · es de peso (important; serious) · nl wichtig (heavy) · de wichtig (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · ro care atârnă greu (heavy) · ka მძლავრი (important; serious) · be ва́жкі (heavy) · nb vektig (important; serious) · de wichtig (heavy) · cs důležitý (important; serious) · sv viktig (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · ka მძიმეწონიანი (heavy) · ro serios (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · fr important (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · ota وزین (heavy) · pdt wichtich (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · ka დამაჯერებელი (important; serious) · it importante (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · da viktig (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · nb tungtveiende (important; serious) · ota آغر (heavy) · da tungtvejende (important; serious) · io pezoza (heavy) · cmn 重要 (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · ka მნიშვნელოვანი (rigorous; severe; afflictive) · nb vektig (heavy) · cs pádný (important; serious) · ru тяжёлый (heavy) · cs závažný (important; serious) · cs těžký (heavy)