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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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of weighty Its aesthetic approach seldom lives up to its gestures toward camp as a guiding principle or its weighty themes (except, perhaps, in its surprisingly raucous final act). Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 10 June 2025 With his pair of documentaries, director and musician Questlove used Stone’s life story to probe weighty questions about Black genius and how it’s embraced, exploited and neglected by the culture. Rob Tannenbaum, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025 The longer Navi’s wheelbase stretched a full foot farther than that of the non-L ‘Gator, expanding cargo space behind the third row to a whopping 42.6 cubic feet — but also adding around 300 pounds of mass to an already weighty machine. Will Sabel Courtney, Robb Report, 5 June 2025 This is a weighty topic that’s too extensive for this article. Dr. Eric George, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for weighty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for weighty
Adjective
  • Some 182 people with serious mental illness in the city jails are waiting for one of those beds, city correction officials said Thursday.
    Graham Rayman, New York Daily News, 29 June 2025
  • Historians often describe Flammarion more as a popularizer than a serious scientist, but this should not diminish his accomplishments.
    Matthew Shindell, Space.com, 29 June 2025
Adjective
  • The Ability To Respond, Not React There are many important skills that top-notch leaders have in common, such as emotional intelligence, active listening, vision and so on.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 24 June 2025
  • Getty Images Iran launched a missile strike against the largest American military installation in the Middle East, near Doha, Qatar, in retaliation for U.S. strikes on Iran's most important nuclear sites over the weekend.
    Michele Luhn, CNBC, 24 June 2025
Adjective
  • Energy Prices The war between Israel and Iran had evoked fears of a regional conflict that results in massive civilian casualties, and disrupts the flow of energy and other trade through the region.
    Sara Braun, Fortune, 22 June 2025
  • Nuclear reactors are also now solidly built and would require a large amount of fire power -- such as the U.S. military's massive bunker-buster bombs -- to cause an explosion, the experts said.
    Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 21 June 2025
Adjective
  • In the procedural drama, Rodríguez brings to life a multi-layered and solemn character shaped by a traumatic childhood — abused within the foster care system, with no knowledge of his origins, and struggling with severe dyslexia.
    Veronica Villafañe, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025
  • This protection -- known as the seal of confession -- is among the oldest and most solemn obligations in the Catholic Church, grounded in the Church’s teaching that, in the sacrament, penitents are confidentially confessing to and receiving forgiveness from God.
    Hiram Sasser, National Review, 15 June 2025
Adjective
  • All of this is to say: fitness is the biggest influential player for the Dutch.
    Megan Feringa, New York Times, 28 June 2025
  • Involve influential stakeholders right from the start.
    Apurva Wadodkar, Forbes.com, 27 June 2025
Adjective
  • April 2025 The Six of Swords: There is major transition and movement afoot for you this month, Libra.
    Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 July 2025
  • In Europe, the Stoxx 600 is up 6.7%, and in Asia, most major markets are in positive territory, with Hong Kong and South Korea posting a whopping 20% gain year to date.
    Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 1 July 2025
Adjective
  • The heavy rain has ended and while flooding is no longer expected to pose a threat, area creeks and streams may remain elevated.
    NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 28 June 2025
  • Make sure the soil at the planting site drains within one hour following heavy rain, as peach trees do not tolerate soggy soil.
    Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 28 June 2025
Adjective
  • Born in Philadelphia in October 1888, Breen shuttled between jobs in public relations, newspaper journalism, and the U.S. consular service, yet the connecting thread was always his deep, proud, stern Irish Catholicism.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 June 2025
  • However, strikes between the two nations appeared to continue—leading to a stern rebuke from the president on Tuesday morning.
    Jason Lemon, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Weighty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/weighty. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.

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