1. Of comparatively great physical weight or density
   "heavy mahogany furniture"; "a heavy load"; "lead is a heavy metal"
    
2. Unusually great in degree, quantity or number
   "heavy casualties"; "heavy losses"; "heavy rain"; "heavy traffic"; "heavy taxes"; "a heavy fine"
    
3. Of relatively large extent and density
   "a heavy line"
    
4. Of great intensity, power or force
   "heavy seas"; "a heavy blow"; "the fighting was heavy"
    
5. Marked by great psychological weight; weighted down especially with sadness, troubles or weariness
   "heavy news"; "a heavy silence"; "heavy eyelids"; "a heavy heart"; "a heavy schedule"
    
6. Of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought
   "heavy matters of state";
   - grave, grievous, weighty
    
7. Large and powerful; especially designed for heavy loads or rough work
   "a heavy truck"; "heavy machinery"
    
8. Of the military or industry; using (or being) the heaviest and most powerful armaments or weapons or equipment
   "a heavy cruiser"; "heavy guns"; "heavy industry involves large-scale production of basic products (such as steel) used by other industries"; "heavy artillery"; "heavy infantry"
    
9. Usually describes a large person who is fat but has a large frame to carry it
   "The heavy wrestler dominated the ring";
   - fleshy, heavyset, thickset
    
10. Permitting little if any light to pass through because of denseness of matter
    "heavy fog";
    - dense, impenetrable
     
11. Darkened by clouds
    "a heavy sky";
    - lowering[2], sullen, threatening, loury, lowery, louring
     
12. (used of soil) compact and fine-grained
    "the clayey soil was heavy and easily saturated"; "the cloggy soil was heavy and easily saturated";
    - clayey, cloggy
     
13. (physics, chemistry) being or containing an isotope with greater than average atomic mass or weight
    "heavy hydrogen"; "heavy water"
     
14. Made of fabric having considerable thickness
    "a heavy coat"
     
15. Full and loud and deep
    "heavy sounds";
    - sonorous
     
16. Given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors
    "a heavy drinker";
    - intemperate, hard
     
17. Slow and laborious because of weight
    "the heavy tread of tired troops";
    - lumbering, ponderous
     
18. Dense or inadequately leavened and hence likely to cause distress in the alimentary canal
    "a heavy pudding"
     
19. Sharply inclined
    "a heavy grade"
     
20. Full of; bearing great weight
    "trees heavy with fruit";
    - weighed down
     
21. Requiring or showing effort
    "heavy breathing";
    - labored [US], laboured [Brit, Cdn]
     
22. Characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort
    "heavy work"; "heavy going";
    - arduous, backbreaking, grueling [US], gruelling [Brit, Cdn], hard, laborious, operose, punishing, toilsome, killing [informal]
     
23. Lacking lightness or liveliness
    "heavy humour";
    - leaden
     
24. (of sleep) deep and complete
    "a heavy sleep";
    - profound, sound, wakeless
     
25. In an advanced stage of pregnancy
    "was heavy with child";
    - big, enceinte [archaic], expectant, gravid [technical], great, large, with child [archaic]
     
26. (of an actor or role) being or playing the villain
    "Iago is the heavy role in ‘Othello’"
     
27. Prodigious
    "heavy investor";
    - big

1. [informal] A large and strong and heavyset man
   "The nightclub employed two heavies as bouncers";
   - bull, bruiser [informal], strapper, Samson
    
2. An actor who plays villainous roles
   "The versatile performer was often cast as the heavy in crime dramas"
    
3. A serious (or tragic) role in a play
   "The actor was known for playing heavies in Shakespearean dramas"

1. Slowly as if burdened by much weight
   "time hung heavy on their hands";
   - heavily

Derived forms: heavies, heavier, heaviest

See also: big, burdensome, cloudy, compact, concerning, deep, dense, distressful, distressing, disturbing, doughy, dull, effortful, fat, full, harsh, heavier-than-air, heavy-duty, heavy-footed, hebetudinous [rare], hefty, important, indigestible, indulgent, intemperate, leaden, massive, non-buoyant, of import, onerous, oppressive, perturbing, ponderous, preggers [informal], preggo [Austral, NZ, informal], pregnant, soggy, steep, taxing, thick, troubling, unsettling, up the duff [Brit, informal], up the spout [informal], up the stick [Brit, informal], weight, weighted, weighty, wicked, worrisome, worrying

Type of: actor, adult male, bozo [N. Amer, informal], cat [N. Amer, informal], chappie [Brit, informal], character, geezer [Brit, informal], guy [informal], histrion [archaic], hombre [N. Amer, informal], man, part, persona, player, role, role player, sod [informal], theatrical role, thesp [Brit, informal], thespian

Antonym: light

Encyclopedia: Heavy, Left Handed and Candid