heavy hitter

noun

1. a baseball player who makes many extra-base hits.
2. a very important or influential person:

   the secretary of state and other heavy hitters.

heavy hitter

noun

1. informal.
   another term for big hitter

Other Words From

• heavy-hitter adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of heavy hitter¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Idioms and Phrases

An important or influential individual or organization. For example, This publishing house is one of the heavy hitters in the textbook industry . This expression originated in sports such as boxing, where it literally meant “hitting hard,” and was transferred to other enterprises in the mid-1900s.

Example Sentences

The country icon’s always-stacked Outlaw Music Festival blows into the Gorge with arguably the heaviest of heavy hitter lineups this summer.

From Seattle Times

Cornerstone is a heavy hitter in Washington; it took in $44 million in 2023 from nearly 300 clients.

From Seattle Times

It seemed as if every major urban entertainment heavy hitter were milling around the conspicuously luxurious modern house and vast grounds.

From Los Angeles Times

From a Latin music heavy hitter taking on serious acting to a famous Chilean heartthrob hanging out in Oakland, here are the 7 movies playing at Sundance that we are most excited about.

From Los Angeles Times

Google’s strength in search makes it a heavy hitter in the lucrative advertising market, its biggest revenue source.

From Reuters