weightyadj.

Brit.

/ˈweɪti/, U.S.

/ˈweɪdi/

Forms: Middle English wehty, 1500s Scottish wegh-, vech-, vych-, wych-, waich-, waychtie, 1500s–1600s Scottish wechtie, 1600s Scottish weychtie, 1500s, 1800s Scottish wechty; 1500s weyghty(e, 1500s–1600s weightie, Middle English– weighty; 1500s wayghty, wai(h)ti, wayt(t)y, 1500s–1600s waighty, waightie.

Etymology: < weight n.¹ + -y suffix¹.

I. Senses relating to physical weight.

a. Of a considerable or appreciable weight; that weighs a good deal, heavy.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > properties of materials > weight or relative heaviness > [adjective] > heavy

heavyc1000

unlightc1330

sada1375

chargeousa1382

lumpinga1400

ponderousa1400

weighingc1400

poisant1477

peisant1483

wieldlya1500

weighty1500

peiseda1522

burdenous1529

weightful1530

grave1570

leaden1578

plumbeousa1586

wieldy1592

peisy1599

well-weighing?1615

lead-like1816

hefty1867

1500 Ortus Vocabulorum Onerosus, heuy or wehty.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. xxvii. A The stone is heuy, and the sonde weightie: but a fooles wrath is heuyer then they both.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 24^v The best seede also is that which is waightiest.

1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 351 A very great Frost..had covered with Ice, both the Marshes and Rivers, that they would bear the greatest and most weighty Carriages.

1689 J. Chetham Angler's Vade Mecum (ed. 2) i. 5 Let all the Hasle Rods be..no weightier than you can easily manage with one hand.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 616 Now stern Æneas waves his weighty Spear Against his Foe.

1715 A. Pope Temple of Fame 37 As weighty Bodies to the Center tend.

1852 Malpas Builder's Pocket-bk. 43 Many ceilings..have heavy cornices, pendants, and other weighty matters attached to them.

1879 J. C. Cox Notes on Churches of Derbyshire IV. 141 He..lies buried under a weighty uninscribed tomb.

figurative.1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper i. 63 By that path, their Crowne of glory had neither been so certaine, nor so soone, nor so waighty.

b. Of persons or animals: of more than the usual size, large or bulky of body, corpulent. †Of soldiers: Heavily armed or equipped.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > arming or equipping with weapons > [adjective] > heavily

strong-armedc1384

weighty1581

heavy1836

heavy-armed1836

the world > life > the body > bodily height > tallness > [adjective] > and broad

massya1382

stout1390

burlyc1400

corporalc1475

massive1485

poisy1538

big-made1566

chopping1566

grossa1578

large-bodied1577

weighty1581

burly-boned1590

mastya1593

lumbering1593

giantisha1635

gigantic1651

mastiff1668

large-made1725

lusty1777

bowerly1794

squelching1854

beef to the heel(s)1867

hefty1867

1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades ii. Catal. Princes 39 And Iton breeder good Of waightie felterd felled sheepe.

1590 R. Ferris Most Dangerous Aduenture B 2 We recouered him and got him vp againe (although he were a verie waightie man).

1670 J. Milton Hist. Brit. ii. 59 Ostorius..could hardly stay thir flight; till the waighty Legions coming on, at first poys'd the Battel, at length turn'd the Scale.

a1701 H. Maundrell Journey Aleppo to Jerusalem (1703) 122 Upon the bough there sits a good weighty fellow, to press it down to the bottom [of the water].

1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 49 Auld Saunders Clerk, a man o' echty, Though eild-encumber't now and wechty.

c. Of great weight in proportion to its bulk, of high specific gravity.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > [adjective] > relating to measurement of specific gravity > of high specific gravity

heavya1000

ponderous1531

weighty1585

1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 403/1 Argentum graue,..weightie siluer, or siluer in bulleon, as they call it.

a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1664 (1955) III. 374 It look'd like a fungus, but was weighty like metall.

1748 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. I. 13 Friable, weighty, fine red Bole.

1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 138 Baroselenite..Rough and harsh, but appears weighty.

1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 816 The successive percussions that it receives, determine the weightier matters, and consequently those richest in metal, to accumulate towards its upper end.

†d. Of coin: of full weight, of the standard or legal weight. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > [adjective] > heavy or light

peisec1450

weighty1617

lightweight1898

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 294 He that brings a weighty French crowne In specie to the Gold-smyths, they will give him six shilling six pence for it.

1692 J. Locke Some Considerations Lowering Interest 156 He will..contract to be paid in weighty Money.

1730 Conduitt Observ. Coins (1774) 52 If foreigners, who take our money in large parcels only by weight, are suffered to pour in light money upon us, at the same rate as if it were weighty.

2. Bearing down heavily as if weighted or of great weight; falling with force or violence.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [adjective] > falling with force or violence

weighty1578

1578 M. Jennings tr. E. de Maisonneufve Gerileon of Englande i. f. 61^v If he had not by his agillitie and nimblenesse, eschewed the weightie blowes of the Giaunte.

1605 R. F. tr. F. Dedekind Schoole of Slovenrie ii. viii. 78 Another must both brawling words and weightie blowes abide.

1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey III. x. 199 Then leaning on the spear with both my hands, [I] Up-bore my load, and prest the sinking sands With weighty steps.

1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) xxxii. viii Whoe'er like Horse and Mule withstand,..I bruise beneath my weighty Hand.

II. Senses relating to gravity or significance, and related uses.

a. Of great gravity or significance; requiring earnest thought, consideration, or application; highly important, serious, grave, momentous.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > grave or serious

heavy971

highOE

earnestfula1400

solemn1420

weighty1489

ponderousa1500

chargeablea1513

serious1531

earnest1533

gravous1535

capitala1538

deep1598

grave1824

1489 Earl of Northumberland in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 61 For right weighty consideration me moving concerning the pleasure of the Kings highnes.

1503–4 Act 19 Hen. VII c. 28 Preamble Great and weyghtye maters concernyng the comen weale of this lande.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. clxiij My lordes, we haue perceiued the kyng your masters requests, which be great and of a waightie Importaunce.

1606 R. Stock tr. E. Campion in tr. W. Whitaker Answere E. Campian 95 A waighty question..concerning lawfull ceremonies.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) ii. i. 63 This was your default, That being Captaine of the Watch to Night, Did looke no better to that weightie Charge.

1646 in Hamilton Papers (1880) 129 You may judge how gladly I would impart things of waightier and more pleasing consequence.

1693 W. Freke Sel. Ess. xxvi. 154 By Dissimulation and Trifles, sometimes the Weightiest Matters haue been discouered.

1718 Free-thinker No. 65. 2 What weighty Negotiations did He bring to a Conclusion!

1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace ii. i. 21 Or chuse at least some Minister of Grace, Fit to bestow the Laureat's weighty place.

1769 E. Burke Observ. Late State Nation 8 The questions of war and peace, the most weighty of all questions.

1809 S. T. Coleridge Friend 28 Sept. 109 There are three weighty motives for a distinct exposition of this Theory.

1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. iv. 31 And now I am going seriously to tell you..four secrets. Mind! Serious, grave, weighty secrets.

b. Of a substantial or solid nature; ranking high in respect of importance or value.In quot. 1744 employed sarcastically with allusion to sense 1.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > of high or great importance

worthlyeOE

mickleeOE

greatc1225

right hand?c1225

solemna1387

materialc1475

superior1526

grand1542

weighty1558

main1581

pregnant1591

pregnate1598

materious1611

moliminous1642

momentous1656

magic1696

all-important1748

big1748

eventful1756

colossal1775

bread and butter1822

bada1825

key1832

all-absorbing1834

earth-moving?1834

earth-shaking1835

earth-shatteringa1859

high-ranking1874

beaucoup1917

major league1951

earth-stopping1956

crucial1957

1558 Bp. T. Watson Holsome Doctr. Seuen Sacramentes xxx. f. clxxxix To exchaunge the short and light affections of thys tyme, wyth the eternall and weyghty ioyes in the Kyngdome of heauen.

1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie i. sig. F7^v Examples..whose authoritie is most weighty herein.

1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. S2 Were they weightie Treatises?

1653 W. Ramesey Astrologia Restaurata 110 You are to know that a more weighty planet, or that which is superiour cannot apply unto the lighter or inferiour, except when he is retrograde.

1744 Def. People (title page) Full Confutation of the Pretended Facts, advanc'd in a late Huge, Angry Pamphlet... In a Letter to the Author of that weighty Performance.

1816 S. W. Singer Researches Hist. Playing Cards 165 Mr. Dibdin whose authority on the subject is the weightiest that could be possibly adduced.

1874 J. S. Blackie On Self-culture 41 In these days, when the most weighty books may be had cheaply, in the lightest form.

1877 T. H. Huxley Techn. Educ. Sci. & Cult. (1881) 84 Steps which will have a weighty and a lasting influence on the growth and spread of sound and thorough teaching.

a. Of an argument, utterance, etc.: Producing a powerful effect; adapted to influence or convince; forcible, telling, potent.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > influential

substantial?c1450

weighty1560

momentous1667

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective]

sensiblea1393

eloquent1393

rhetoricc1450

mightya1500

pithy1529

grave1541

pithful1548

weighty1560

sappy1563

emphatical1567

fasta1568

thwacking1567

forceful1571

enforceable1589

energetical1596

eloquious1599

sinewy1600

emphatic1602

sinewed1604

strong1604

tonitruous1606

nervose1645

nervous1663

energetic1674

energic1683

strong1685

cogent1718

lapidary1724

forcible1726

authoritative1749

terse1777

telling1819

vigorous1821

sturdy1822

tonitruant1861

meaty1874

vertebrate1882

energized1887

jawy1898

heavy1970

1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxiiij With moste weightie wordes.

1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 12 Your wurship hath harde what forcible and waiti reasons M. Nevil hath usid against me.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. i. 148 Lies well steeld with weighty arguments.

1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper ii. 133 A speech..so gnomicall and waighty, that S. Augustin highly commends it.

1717 M. Prior Alma iii. 44 No fool Pythagoras was thought; Whilst he his weighty doctrines taught.

1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. I. iv. 264 But on the other hand several weighty objections had to be urged.

1856 C. Kingsley Hours with Mystics in Misc. (1860) I. ix. 331 Reflections very wise and weighty indeed.

1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. ix. 334 Few and weighty were the words which the great Earl spoke that day.

1890 Law Times Rep. 63 684/1 I must adopt the evidence on the other side, which I think is more weighty.

b. Of persons: Having great authority or influence; important or impressive in respect of position, views, or utterance.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective]

important1444

substantious1483

sore1530

relevantc1540

importing1579

of great (little, etc.) weight1581

grave1594

dear1598

consequentious1634

concerning1641

of concern1651

consequent1659

weighty1662

interesting1711

capital1724

consequential1728

magnitudinous1777

makulu1899

operative1955

society > authority > power > influence > [adjective] > influential

mightyOE

substantial?c1450

prevalent?a1475

grave1541

upstantial1590

prevailent1623

influxive1624

weighty1662

momentous1667

influentiala1734

influencive1809

high-power1906

high-powered1917

1662 J. Howell New Eng. Gram. To Rdr. 4 Mr. Ben Johnson a Weighty man and one who was as patient as hee was painfull in all his composures.

1667 S. Pepys Diary 17 Feb. (1974) VIII. 70 A mighty quick, ready man, but not so weighty as he should be.

1710 J. Swift Tale of Tub (ed. 5) Apol. sig. A4 Since the weightiest Men in the weightiest Stations are pleased to think it a more dangerous Point to laugh at those Corruptions in Religion.

1726 Bp. J. Butler 15 Serm. iv. 72 There is not any Necessity, that Men should aim at being important and weighty in every Sentence they speak.

1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel III. xi. v. 257 The great commoner, the weighty speaker, the expert man of business.

1860 R. W. Emerson Behaviour in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 167 The argument is scouted, until by and by it gets into the mind of some weighty person; then it begins to tell on the community.

1881 T. H. Huxley Sci. & Culture 246 We sometimes hear it [this maxim] enunciated by weighty authorities, as if its natural consequence..had the force of a moral obligation.

a. Hard to bear or endure without failing or giving way; oppressive, burdensome, grievous.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > severity > [adjective]

heavyc825

grimc900

strongeOE

hardeOE

drearyOE

eileOE

sweerOE

deara1000

bitterOE

tartc1000

smartOE

unridec1175

sharp?c1225

straitc1275

grievousc1290

fellc1330

shrewda1387

snella1400

unsterna1400

vilea1400

importunea1425

ungainc1425

thrallc1430

peisant1483

sore?a1513

weighty1540

heinous?1541

urgent?1542

asperous?1567

dure1567

spiny1586

searching1590

hoara1600

vengible1601

flinty1613

tugging1642

atrocious1733

uncannya1774

severe1774

stern1830

punishing1833

hefty1867

solid1916

1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus v. iv. sig. Zij^v I am tourmented withinforthe..with so weighty a charge of conscience.

1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 653 Like a wise prince, he alleged his insufficiencie for so great a rome and weyghty a burden.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage i. xvi. 73 He was beholden to the Romanes, that eased him of so weighty a burthen, and lessened his cares of gouernement.

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 308. ⁋1 The weighty Cares which you have thought fit to undergo for the publick Good.

1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. x. 261 I have lived ill, and the world has been too weighty with me.

1849 C. J. Lever Confessions Con Cregan I. xviii. 284 There are hundreds, here, whose weightiest evil would be, that they awoke an hour earlier than their wont.

†b. Rigorous, severe. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > strictness > [adjective] > strict or severe (of rules, judgement, or discipline)

strongeOE

starkc1175

sharpa1340

strait1390

unrelaxed1508

exacta1538

severe1562

strict1578

weightya1616

stringent1846

ramrod1850

medieval1917

tough1961

a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iii. vi. 99 We banish thee for euer..If after two dayes shine, Athens containe thee, Attend our waightier Iudgement.

†6. Serious, grave; expressing seriousness or gravity, earnest, solemn. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > melancholy > seriousness or solemnity > [adjective]

seinec1330

sober1362

unfeastlyc1386

murec1390

unlaughter-milda1400

sadc1400

solemnyc1420

solemned1423

serious1440

solemnc1449

solenc1460

solemnel?1473

moy1487

demure1523

grave1549

staid1557

sage1564

sullen1583

weighty1602

solid1632

censoriousa1637

(as) grave (also solemn, etc.) as a judge1650

untriumphant1659

setc1660

agelastic1666

austere1667

humourless1671

unlaughing1737

smileless1740

untriflinga1743

untittering1749

steady1759

dun1797

antithalian1818

dreich1819

laughterless1825

unsmiling1826

laughless1827

unfestive1844

sober-sided1847

gleeless1850

unfarcical1850

mome1855

deedy1895

button-down1959

buttoned-down1960

straight-faced1975

1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge Prol. sig. A2 If any spirit breathes within this round, Vncapable of waightie passion.

1622 J. Taylor Sir Gregory Nonsence in Wks. (1630) ii. 3/1 With that the smug-fac'd Pluto shook his vestment, Deepe ruminating what the weighty Iest ment.

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII Prol. 2 I Come no more to make you laugh, Things now, That beare a Weighty, and a Serious Brow,..We now present.

1677 W. Penn Acct. Trav. Holland (1694) 212 The Countess..lookt upon me with a weighty countenance, and fetcht a deep sigh, crying out, O the cumber and entanglements of this vain World!

7. = heavy adj.¹ 20.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious > of things

heavy1601

bloodless?c1622

vapid1790

weighty1828

soggy1928

1828 W. Irving Life & Lett. (1864) II. 337 My chief fear of the work is that..it may prove..in some parts heavy. I shall work it up, however, as much as possible, and endeavor to lighten it where it is weighty.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	weighty
释义	weightyadj. Brit. /ˈweɪti/, U.S. /ˈweɪdi/ Forms: Middle English wehty, 1500s Scottish wegh-, vech-, vych-, wych-, waich-, waychtie, 1500s–1600s Scottish wechtie, 1600s Scottish weychtie, 1500s, 1800s Scottish wechty; 1500s weyghty(e, 1500s–1600s weightie, Middle English– weighty; 1500s wayghty, wai(h)ti, wayt(t)y, 1500s–1600s waighty, waightie. Etymology: < weight n.¹ + -y suffix¹. I. Senses relating to physical weight. 1. a. Of a considerable or appreciable weight; that weighs a good deal, heavy. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > properties of materials > weight or relative heaviness > [adjective] > heavy heavyc1000 unlightc1330 sada1375 chargeousa1382 lumpinga1400 ponderousa1400 weighingc1400 poisant1477 peisant1483 wieldlya1500 weighty1500 peiseda1522 burdenous1529 weightful1530 grave1570 leaden1578 plumbeousa1586 wieldy1592 peisy1599 well-weighing?1615 lead-like1816 hefty1867 1500 Ortus Vocabulorum Onerosus, heuy or wehty. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. xxvii. A The stone is heuy, and the sonde weightie: but a fooles wrath is heuyer then they both. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 24^v The best seede also is that which is waightiest. 1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 351 A very great Frost..had covered with Ice, both the Marshes and Rivers, that they would bear the greatest and most weighty Carriages. 1689 J. Chetham Angler's Vade Mecum (ed. 2) i. 5 Let all the Hasle Rods be..no weightier than you can easily manage with one hand. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 616 Now stern Æneas waves his weighty Spear Against his Foe. 1715 A. Pope Temple of Fame 37 As weighty Bodies to the Center tend. 1852 Malpas Builder's Pocket-bk. 43 Many ceilings..have heavy cornices, pendants, and other weighty matters attached to them. 1879 J. C. Cox Notes on Churches of Derbyshire IV. 141 He..lies buried under a weighty uninscribed tomb. figurative.1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper i. 63 By that path, their Crowne of glory had neither been so certaine, nor so soone, nor so waighty. b. Of persons or animals: of more than the usual size, large or bulky of body, corpulent. †Of soldiers: Heavily armed or equipped. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > arming or equipping with weapons > [adjective] > heavily strong-armedc1384 weighty1581 heavy1836 heavy-armed1836 the world > life > the body > bodily height > tallness > [adjective] > and broad massya1382 stout1390 burlyc1400 corporalc1475 massive1485 poisy1538 big-made1566 chopping1566 grossa1578 large-bodied1577 weighty1581 burly-boned1590 mastya1593 lumbering1593 giantisha1635 gigantic1651 mastiff1668 large-made1725 lusty1777 bowerly1794 squelching1854 beef to the heel(s)1867 hefty1867 1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades ii. Catal. Princes 39 And Iton breeder good Of waightie felterd felled sheepe. 1590 R. Ferris Most Dangerous Aduenture B 2 We recouered him and got him vp againe (although he were a verie waightie man). 1670 J. Milton Hist. Brit. ii. 59 Ostorius..could hardly stay thir flight; till the waighty Legions coming on, at first poys'd the Battel, at length turn'd the Scale. a1701 H. Maundrell Journey Aleppo to Jerusalem (1703) 122 Upon the bough there sits a good weighty fellow, to press it down to the bottom [of the water]. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 49 Auld Saunders Clerk, a man o' echty, Though eild-encumber't now and wechty. c. Of great weight in proportion to its bulk, of high specific gravity. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > [adjective] > relating to measurement of specific gravity > of high specific gravity heavya1000 ponderous1531 weighty1585 1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 403/1 Argentum graue,..weightie siluer, or siluer in bulleon, as they call it. a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1664 (1955) III. 374 It look'd like a fungus, but was weighty like metall. 1748 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. I. 13 Friable, weighty, fine red Bole. 1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 138 Baroselenite..Rough and harsh, but appears weighty. 1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 816 The successive percussions that it receives, determine the weightier matters, and consequently those richest in metal, to accumulate towards its upper end. †d. Of coin: of full weight, of the standard or legal weight. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > [adjective] > heavy or light peisec1450 weighty1617 lightweight1898 1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 294 He that brings a weighty French crowne In specie to the Gold-smyths, they will give him six shilling six pence for it. 1692 J. Locke Some Considerations Lowering Interest 156 He will..contract to be paid in weighty Money. 1730 Conduitt Observ. Coins (1774) 52 If foreigners, who take our money in large parcels only by weight, are suffered to pour in light money upon us, at the same rate as if it were weighty. 2. Bearing down heavily as if weighted or of great weight; falling with force or violence. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [adjective] > falling with force or violence weighty1578 1578 M. Jennings tr. E. de Maisonneufve Gerileon of Englande i. f. 61^v If he had not by his agillitie and nimblenesse, eschewed the weightie blowes of the Giaunte. 1605 R. F. tr. F. Dedekind Schoole of Slovenrie ii. viii. 78 Another must both brawling words and weightie blowes abide. 1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey III. x. 199 Then leaning on the spear with both my hands, [I] Up-bore my load, and prest the sinking sands With weighty steps. 1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) xxxii. viii Whoe'er like Horse and Mule withstand,..I bruise beneath my weighty Hand. II. Senses relating to gravity or significance, and related uses. 3. a. Of great gravity or significance; requiring earnest thought, consideration, or application; highly important, serious, grave, momentous. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > grave or serious heavy971 highOE earnestfula1400 solemn1420 weighty1489 ponderousa1500 chargeablea1513 serious1531 earnest1533 gravous1535 capitala1538 deep1598 grave1824 1489 Earl of Northumberland in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 61 For right weighty consideration me moving concerning the pleasure of the Kings highnes. 1503–4 Act 19 Hen. VII c. 28 Preamble Great and weyghtye maters concernyng the comen weale of this lande. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. clxiij My lordes, we haue perceiued the kyng your masters requests, which be great and of a waightie Importaunce. 1606 R. Stock tr. E. Campion in tr. W. Whitaker Answere E. Campian 95 A waighty question..concerning lawfull ceremonies. a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) ii. i. 63 This was your default, That being Captaine of the Watch to Night, Did looke no better to that weightie Charge. View more context for this quotation 1646 in Hamilton Papers (1880) 129 You may judge how gladly I would impart things of waightier and more pleasing consequence. 1693 W. Freke Sel. Ess. xxvi. 154 By Dissimulation and Trifles, sometimes the Weightiest Matters haue been discouered. 1718 Free-thinker No. 65. 2 What weighty Negotiations did He bring to a Conclusion! 1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace ii. i. 21 Or chuse at least some Minister of Grace, Fit to bestow the Laureat's weighty place. 1769 E. Burke Observ. Late State Nation 8 The questions of war and peace, the most weighty of all questions. 1809 S. T. Coleridge Friend 28 Sept. 109 There are three weighty motives for a distinct exposition of this Theory. 1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. iv. 31 And now I am going seriously to tell you..four secrets. Mind! Serious, grave, weighty secrets. b. Of a substantial or solid nature; ranking high in respect of importance or value.In quot. 1744 employed sarcastically with allusion to sense 1. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > of high or great importance worthlyeOE mickleeOE greatc1225 right hand?c1225 solemna1387 materialc1475 superior1526 grand1542 weighty1558 main1581 pregnant1591 pregnate1598 materious1611 moliminous1642 momentous1656 magic1696 all-important1748 big1748 eventful1756 colossal1775 bread and butter1822 bada1825 key1832 all-absorbing1834 earth-moving?1834 earth-shaking1835 earth-shatteringa1859 high-ranking1874 beaucoup1917 major league1951 earth-stopping1956 crucial1957 1558 Bp. T. Watson Holsome Doctr. Seuen Sacramentes xxx. f. clxxxix To exchaunge the short and light affections of thys tyme, wyth the eternall and weyghty ioyes in the Kyngdome of heauen. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie i. sig. F7^v Examples..whose authoritie is most weighty herein. 1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. S2 Were they weightie Treatises? 1653 W. Ramesey Astrologia Restaurata 110 You are to know that a more weighty planet, or that which is superiour cannot apply unto the lighter or inferiour, except when he is retrograde. 1744 Def. People (title page) Full Confutation of the Pretended Facts, advanc'd in a late Huge, Angry Pamphlet... In a Letter to the Author of that weighty Performance. 1816 S. W. Singer Researches Hist. Playing Cards 165 Mr. Dibdin whose authority on the subject is the weightiest that could be possibly adduced. 1874 J. S. Blackie On Self-culture 41 In these days, when the most weighty books may be had cheaply, in the lightest form. 1877 T. H. Huxley Techn. Educ. Sci. & Cult. (1881) 84 Steps which will have a weighty and a lasting influence on the growth and spread of sound and thorough teaching. 4. a. Of an argument, utterance, etc.: Producing a powerful effect; adapted to influence or convince; forcible, telling, potent. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > influential substantial?c1450 weighty1560 momentous1667 society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective] sensiblea1393 eloquent1393 rhetoricc1450 mightya1500 pithy1529 grave1541 pithful1548 weighty1560 sappy1563 emphatical1567 fasta1568 thwacking1567 forceful1571 enforceable1589 energetical1596 eloquious1599 sinewy1600 emphatic1602 sinewed1604 strong1604 tonitruous1606 nervose1645 nervous1663 energetic1674 energic1683 strong1685 cogent1718 lapidary1724 forcible1726 authoritative1749 terse1777 telling1819 vigorous1821 sturdy1822 tonitruant1861 meaty1874 vertebrate1882 energized1887 jawy1898 heavy1970 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxiiij With moste weightie wordes. 1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 12 Your wurship hath harde what forcible and waiti reasons M. Nevil hath usid against me. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. i. 148 Lies well steeld with weighty arguments. View more context for this quotation 1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper ii. 133 A speech..so gnomicall and waighty, that S. Augustin highly commends it. 1717 M. Prior Alma iii. 44 No fool Pythagoras was thought; Whilst he his weighty doctrines taught. 1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. I. iv. 264 But on the other hand several weighty objections had to be urged. 1856 C. Kingsley Hours with Mystics in Misc. (1860) I. ix. 331 Reflections very wise and weighty indeed. 1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. ix. 334 Few and weighty were the words which the great Earl spoke that day. 1890 Law Times Rep. 63 684/1 I must adopt the evidence on the other side, which I think is more weighty. b. Of persons: Having great authority or influence; important or impressive in respect of position, views, or utterance. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] important1444 substantious1483 sore1530 relevantc1540 importing1579 of great (little, etc.) weight1581 grave1594 dear1598 consequentious1634 concerning1641 of concern1651 consequent1659 weighty1662 interesting1711 capital1724 consequential1728 magnitudinous1777 makulu1899 operative1955 society > authority > power > influence > [adjective] > influential mightyOE substantial?c1450 prevalent?a1475 grave1541 upstantial1590 prevailent1623 influxive1624 weighty1662 momentous1667 influentiala1734 influencive1809 high-power1906 high-powered1917 1662 J. Howell New Eng. Gram. To Rdr. 4 Mr. Ben Johnson a Weighty man and one who was as patient as hee was painfull in all his composures. 1667 S. Pepys Diary 17 Feb. (1974) VIII. 70 A mighty quick, ready man, but not so weighty as he should be. 1710 J. Swift Tale of Tub (ed. 5) Apol. sig. A4 Since the weightiest Men in the weightiest Stations are pleased to think it a more dangerous Point to laugh at those Corruptions in Religion. 1726 Bp. J. Butler 15 Serm. iv. 72 There is not any Necessity, that Men should aim at being important and weighty in every Sentence they speak. 1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel III. xi. v. 257 The great commoner, the weighty speaker, the expert man of business. 1860 R. W. Emerson Behaviour in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 167 The argument is scouted, until by and by it gets into the mind of some weighty person; then it begins to tell on the community. 1881 T. H. Huxley Sci. & Culture 246 We sometimes hear it [this maxim] enunciated by weighty authorities, as if its natural consequence..had the force of a moral obligation. 5. a. Hard to bear or endure without failing or giving way; oppressive, burdensome, grievous. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > severity > [adjective] heavyc825 grimc900 strongeOE hardeOE drearyOE eileOE sweerOE deara1000 bitterOE tartc1000 smartOE unridec1175 sharp?c1225 straitc1275 grievousc1290 fellc1330 shrewda1387 snella1400 unsterna1400 vilea1400 importunea1425 ungainc1425 thrallc1430 peisant1483 sore?a1513 weighty1540 heinous?1541 urgent?1542 asperous?1567 dure1567 spiny1586 searching1590 hoara1600 vengible1601 flinty1613 tugging1642 atrocious1733 uncannya1774 severe1774 stern1830 punishing1833 hefty1867 solid1916 1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus v. iv. sig. Zij^v I am tourmented withinforthe..with so weighty a charge of conscience. 1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 653 Like a wise prince, he alleged his insufficiencie for so great a rome and weyghty a burden. 1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage i. xvi. 73 He was beholden to the Romanes, that eased him of so weighty a burthen, and lessened his cares of gouernement. 1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 308. ⁋1 The weighty Cares which you have thought fit to undergo for the publick Good. 1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. x. 261 I have lived ill, and the world has been too weighty with me. 1849 C. J. Lever Confessions Con Cregan I. xviii. 284 There are hundreds, here, whose weightiest evil would be, that they awoke an hour earlier than their wont. †b. Rigorous, severe. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ society > authority > strictness > [adjective] > strict or severe (of rules, judgement, or discipline) strongeOE starkc1175 sharpa1340 strait1390 unrelaxed1508 exacta1538 severe1562 strict1578 weightya1616 stringent1846 ramrod1850 medieval1917 tough1961 a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iii. vi. 99 We banish thee for euer..If after two dayes shine, Athens containe thee, Attend our waightier Iudgement. †6. Serious, grave; expressing seriousness or gravity, earnest, solemn. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > melancholy > seriousness or solemnity > [adjective] seinec1330 sober1362 unfeastlyc1386 murec1390 unlaughter-milda1400 sadc1400 solemnyc1420 solemned1423 serious1440 solemnc1449 solenc1460 solemnel?1473 moy1487 demure1523 grave1549 staid1557 sage1564 sullen1583 weighty1602 solid1632 censoriousa1637 (as) grave (also solemn, etc.) as a judge1650 untriumphant1659 setc1660 agelastic1666 austere1667 humourless1671 unlaughing1737 smileless1740 untriflinga1743 untittering1749 steady1759 dun1797 antithalian1818 dreich1819 laughterless1825 unsmiling1826 laughless1827 unfestive1844 sober-sided1847 gleeless1850 unfarcical1850 mome1855 deedy1895 button-down1959 buttoned-down1960 straight-faced1975 1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge Prol. sig. A2 If any spirit breathes within this round, Vncapable of waightie passion. 1622 J. Taylor Sir Gregory Nonsence in Wks. (1630) ii. 3/1 With that the smug-fac'd Pluto shook his vestment, Deepe ruminating what the weighty Iest ment. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII Prol. 2 I Come no more to make you laugh, Things now, That beare a Weighty, and a Serious Brow,..We now present. View more context for this quotation 1677 W. Penn Acct. Trav. Holland (1694) 212 The Countess..lookt upon me with a weighty countenance, and fetcht a deep sigh, crying out, O the cumber and entanglements of this vain World! 7. = heavy adj.¹ 20. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious > of things heavy1601 bloodless?c1622 vapid1790 weighty1828 soggy1928 1828 W. Irving Life & Lett. (1864) II. 337 My chief fear of the work is that..it may prove..in some parts heavy. I shall work it up, however, as much as possible, and endeavor to lighten it where it is weighty. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < adj.1489
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