heavily

adverb

heavi·​ly ˈhe-və-lē 

1

: to a great degree : severely

The building was heavily damaged.

The decision weighs heavily on my mind. [=is very difficult and worrisome]

2

: slowly and laboriously : dully

sighed heavily

3

archaic : with sorrow : grievously

4

: in a heavy manner

sat down heavily

Synonyms of heavily

• extremely
• highly
• terribly
• very
• incredibly
• badly
• severely
• too
• so
• intensely
• greatly
• damned
• desperately
• really
• damn
• seriously
• wildly
• far
• much
• especially
• most

Examples of heavily in a Sentence

He relies heavily on his wife for advice.

These artists borrow heavily from Picasso.

Our flowers were heavily damaged by a late spring frost.

She drank and smoked heavily for years.

He sat down heavily on the couch.

He was leaning heavily on the table.

She sighed heavily then said “Okay, I'll do it.”

Recent Examples on the Web

His talent was extreme, but his introverted personality seemed at times to inhibit him on the World Cup stage, where the burden of trying to deliver glory for his country — as Maradona did so memorably in 1986 — weighed so heavily on his shoulders. — Oliver Kay, New York Times, 19 July 2026

Meanwhile, some of the world's largest pet-food makers are investing heavily in nutrition and longevity products aimed at many of the same health problems. — Elsa Ohlen,carolin Roth, CNBC, 18 July 2026

Nigeria has relied heavily on oil produced in the Niger Delta since the 1960s, with crude sales making up around 90% of foreign exchange earnings. — Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 17 July 2026

The White House also released four tranches of documents meant to support the speech, but Trump’s claims were a farrago of recycled information, misrepresentations of evidence, and tendentious claims based on materials too heavily redacted to parse. — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing heavily

• heavily armed

Rhymes for heavily

• evilly