hefty

adjective

ˈhef-tē 

heftier; heftiest

1

: quite heavy

a hefty book

2

a

: marked by bigness, bulk, and usually strength

a hefty football player

b

: powerful, mighty

gave the door a hefty shove

c

: impressively large : substantial

hefty portions

a hefty price

heftily

ˈhef-tə-lē 

adverb

heftiness

ˈhef-tē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms of hefty

• massive
• heavy

Examples of hefty in a Sentence

He was a tall, hefty man.

Her boss gave her a hefty raise.

a hefty dose of irony

He gave the door a hefty kick.

Recent Examples on the Web

Nvidia has emerged as the world's most valuable company by dominating the market for graphics processing units, or GPUs, which are needed for building sophisticated AI models and running the heftiest workloads. — Ari Levy, CNBC, 8 Sep. 2026

The European Commission hit Google with a hefty 460 million euro ($543 million) fine in July for preferring its own services in searches for travel and shopping. — Ryan Whitwam, ArsTechnica, 8 Sep. 2026

This does not bode particularly well for Feyenoord, who finished a hefty 19 points behind 2025-26 Eredivisie champions PSV. — Nick Miller, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026

She is confronted with that question at her workplace by the mysterious Ricki (Lily James), an intriguing young woman with an uneasy edge looking to deposit a surprisingly hefty sum of money. — Tomris Laffly, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1863, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing hefty

• carries a hefty price tag
• hefty price tag

Rhymes for hefty

• lefty

Kids Definition

hefty

adjective

ˈhef-tē 

heftier; heftiest

: heavy entry 1 sense 1a, bulky

heftily

-tə-lē 

adverb

heftiness

-tē-nəs 

noun