Synonyms of weighty

weighty

adjective

ˈwā-tē 

1

as in serious

having a matter of importance as its topic

interrupted a weighty discussion with a silly question

Synonyms & Similar Words

• serious
• important
• big
• heavy
• meaningful
• major
• grave
• substantial
• significant
• solid
• momentous
• portentous
• consequential
• eventful
• material

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• light
• small
• little
• trivial
• minor
• slight
• frivolous
• unimportant
• insignificant
• silly
• unserious
• Mickey Mouse
• lite

2

as in important

having great meaning or lasting effect

choosing a college is a weighty decision

Synonyms & Similar Words

• important
• major
• significant
• historic
• big
• substantial
• monumental
• meaningful
• tectonic
• much
• momentous
• exceptional
• distinguished
• consequential
• eventful
• earthshaking
• material
• earth-shattering
• pivotal
• remarkable
• decisive
• outstanding
• distinctive
• serious
• seminal
• strategic
• notable
• noteworthy
• prominent
• worthy
• impressive
• valuable
• great
• fatal
• earnest
• fateful
• crucial
• heavy
• sincere
• eminent
• grave
• worthwhile
• illustrious
• famous
• key
• prestigious
• central
• critical
• noble
• essential
• all-important
• renowned
• notorious
• vital
• preeminent

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• small
• little
• trivial
• minor
• trifling
• unimportant
• slight
• negligible
• insignificant
• inconsequential
• inconsiderable
• petty
• worthless
• paltry
• obscure
• unknown
• anonymous
• nameless
• uncelebrated

3

as in massive

having great weight

lifted the weighty sack and wondered what was in it

Synonyms & Similar Words

• massive
• heavy
• hefty
• ponderous
• burdensome
• voluminous
• substantial
• bulky
• leaden
• outsized
• elephantine
• solid
• massy
• outsize
• overweight
• lumpish
• top-heavy
• ultraheavy

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• light
• weightless
• fluffy
• feathery
• airy
• insubstantial
• ethereal
• slight
• flimsy
• gossamer
• lightweight
• undersized
• undersize
• underweight
• gossamery
• ultralight
• ultralightweight

4

as in solemn

not joking or playful in mood or manner

the police office looked at me with a rather weighty expression

Synonyms & Similar Words

• solemn
• serious
• stern
• earnest
• unsmiling
• severe
• harsh
• humorless
• professional
• distinguished
• sedate
• sober
• grave
• staid
• po-faced
• no-nonsense
• strict
• uncomic
• sobersided
• grim
• businesslike
• dignified
• gloomy
• serious-minded
• elevated

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• humorous
• playful
• flippant
• light
• jocular
• facetious
• flip
• ridiculous
• ludic
• comical
• kittenish
• joking
• funny
• ludicrous
• riotous
• droll
• comic
• farcical
• hilarious
• uproarious
• hysterical
• frivolous
• laughable
• risible
• antic
• hysteric
• lighthearted
• puerile
• goofy
• jesting
• flighty
• screaming
• absurd
• silly
• foolish
• preposterous
• scatterbrained
• fatuous
• nutty
• unwise
• zany
• harebrained
• insane
• nonsensical
• sidesplitting
• balmy
• jerky
• sappy
• wacky
• senseless
• mad
• crazy
• kooky
• asinine
• light-headed
• daffy
• whacky
• loony
• cockeyed
• witless
• daft
• cuckoo
• brainless
• featherbrained
• dotty
• screwball
• weak-minded
• kookie
• half-witted
• looney

5

as in influential

having power over the minds or behavior of others

one of the weightiest figures in the field of pediatric medicine

Synonyms & Similar Words

• influential
• authoritative
• important
• dominant
• forceful
• cogent
• predominant
• eminent
• momentous
• dominating
• controlling
• supreme
• sovereign
• masterful
• sovran
• regnant

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• weak
• helpless
• powerless
• unable
• impotent
• incapable

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective weighty differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of weighty are cumbersome, cumbrous, heavy, and ponderous. While all these words mean "having great weight," weighty suggests having actual and not just relative weight.

a load of weighty boxes

How are the words cumbrous and cumbersome related as synonyms of weighty?

Both cumbrous and cumbersome imply heaviness and bulkiness that make for difficulty in grasping, moving, carrying, or manipulating.

wrestled with the cumbrous furniture

early cameras were cumbersome and inconvenient

When can heavy be used instead of weighty?

In some situations, the words heavy and weighty are roughly equivalent. However, heavy implies that something has greater density or thickness than the average of its kind or class.

a heavy child for his age

When might ponderous be a better fit than weighty?

The synonyms ponderous and weighty are sometimes interchangeable, but ponderous implies having great weight because of size and massiveness with resulting great inertia.

ponderous elephants in a circus parade

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of weighty

The American intervention came as a surprise—one that did some damage to the Indian prime minister, who has projected himself not only as a fierce advocate for India’s strategic interests but also as a global statesman deliberating on weighty geopolitical questions, such as the war in Ukraine. —Vaibhav Vats, The Atlantic, 21 May 2025

The overall impression was one of an ensemble walking on eggshells: little spark, little levity, little variety, too much weighty reverence. —Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 20 June 2025

Mixed attendance, no bombshells leave GOP with an echo chamber Despite the weighty subject matter, the hearing was sparsely attended and lacked the star witnesses or headline-making moments typical of high-profile Judiciary hearings. —Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 18 June 2025

This is a pen that is both weighty and lighthearted – fitting for the home of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, whose life of bonhomie and good cheer was disrupted by adventure and dragons and ring wraiths and war. —Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 12 June 2025