1
: to a great degree : severely
2
: slowly and laboriously : dully
3
archaic
: with sorrow : grievously
4
: in a heavy manner
Synonyms
- achingly
- almighty
- archly
- awful
- awfully
- badly
- beastly
- blisteringly
- bone
- colossally
- corking
- cracking
- damn
- damned
- dang
- deadly
- desperately
- eminently
- enormously
- especially
- ever
- exceedingly
- exceeding
- extra
- extremely
- fabulously
- fantastically
- far
- fiercely
- filthy
- frightfully
- full
- greatly
- highly
- hugely
- immensely
- incredibly
- intensely
- jolly
- majorly
- mightily
- mighty
- monstrous [chiefly dialect]
- mortally
- most
- much
- particularly
- passing
- rattling
- real
- really
- right
- roaring
- roaringly
- seriously
- severely
- so
- sore
- sorely
- spanking
- specially
- stinking
- such
- super
- supremely
- surpassingly
- terribly
- that
- thumping
- too
- unco
- uncommonly
- vastly
- very
- vitally
- way
- whacking
- wicked
- wildly
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
In heavily Democratic Manhattan, primaries typically function as general elections.
—
Michael Rothfeld Emily Woo Zeller Krish Seenivasan David Mason, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2024
On the economic front, Putin’s war chest relies heavily on revenue from Chinese purchases of Russian exports.
—Alexander Gabuev, Foreign Affairs, 9 Apr. 2024
The criteria for choosing projects for distribution lean heavily towards concerts with globally recognizable artists in significant venues, and documentaries with enticing narratives, but niche bands may have their place.
—Callum McLennan, Variety, 8 Apr. 2024
In March 2022, de Moraes ordered the nationwide suspension of Telegram, a platform used heavily by Bolsonaro and his supporters, for its alleged failure to shut down disinformation networks.
—Chad De Guzman, TIME, 8 Apr. 2024
Prioritizing clients who spend heavily on other categories could also de-incentivize resellers looking to flip bags for a profit.
—Joan Kennedy, CNN, 8 Apr. 2024
Both Lady Bird and Luther rely heavily on archive libraries — there’s not a single new interview in Lady Bird — using old material to provide a new perspective on their subjects and their history.
—Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Apr. 2024
Mass’ books also rely heavily on strong and independent female characters, something that is often lacking in other popular fantasy books written by men.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 6 Apr. 2024
Big Tech companies that are investing heavily in the technology, including Google and Microsoft, are forming a group to study how artificial intelligence might affect technology jobs.
—Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
Michael Rothfeld Emily Woo Zeller Krish Seenivasan David Mason, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2024
On the economic front, Putin’s war chest relies heavily on revenue from Chinese purchases of Russian exports.
—Alexander Gabuev, Foreign Affairs, 9 Apr. 2024
The criteria for choosing projects for distribution lean heavily towards concerts with globally recognizable artists in significant venues, and documentaries with enticing narratives, but niche bands may have their place.
—Callum McLennan, Variety, 8 Apr. 2024
In March 2022, de Moraes ordered the nationwide suspension of Telegram, a platform used heavily by Bolsonaro and his supporters, for its alleged failure to shut down disinformation networks.
—Chad De Guzman, TIME, 8 Apr. 2024
Prioritizing clients who spend heavily on other categories could also de-incentivize resellers looking to flip bags for a profit.
—Joan Kennedy, CNN, 8 Apr. 2024
Both Lady Bird and Luther rely heavily on archive libraries — there’s not a single new interview in Lady Bird — using old material to provide a new perspective on their subjects and their history.
—Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Apr. 2024
Mass’ books also rely heavily on strong and independent female characters, something that is often lacking in other popular fantasy books written by men.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 6 Apr. 2024
Big Tech companies that are investing heavily in the technology, including Google and Microsoft, are forming a group to study how artificial intelligence might affect technology jobs.
—Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'heavily.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near heavily
Cite this Entry
“Heavily.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heavily. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
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