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
Meanwhile, other industry players are investing heavily in renewable energy sources to power their data centers.
—
Alexander Puutio, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
The intrigue: China has invested heavily in operations in the Canal Zone in recent years, raising concerns about the zone's neutrality.
—Ben Berkowitz, Axios, 22 Dec. 2024
In 2024, that worked, but the coalition that powered Trump’s victory drew heavily from those less engaged in politics and who ranged, ideologically, from doctrinaire social conservatives, such as Vance, to contrarian ex-liberals, such as Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2024
On a Knicks team with championship aspirations — and one heavily invested in his production — the weight of those misses was immense.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 20 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for heavily 
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.
Alexander Puutio, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
The intrigue: China has invested heavily in operations in the Canal Zone in recent years, raising concerns about the zone's neutrality.
—Ben Berkowitz, Axios, 22 Dec. 2024
In 2024, that worked, but the coalition that powered Trump’s victory drew heavily from those less engaged in politics and who ranged, ideologically, from doctrinaire social conservatives, such as Vance, to contrarian ex-liberals, such as Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2024
On a Knicks team with championship aspirations — and one heavily invested in his production — the weight of those misses was immense.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 20 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for heavily
Dictionary Entries Near heavily
Cite this Entry
“Heavily.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heavily. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share