heavily

[ hev-uh-lee ]

adverb

1. with a great weight or burden:

   a heavily loaded wagon.

2. in a manner suggestive of carrying a great weight; ponderously; lumberingly:

   He walked heavily across the room.

3. in an oppressive manner:

   Cares weigh heavily upon him.

4. severely; greatly; intensely:

   to suffer heavily.

5. densely; thickly:

   heavily wooded.

6. in large amounts or in great quantities; very much:

   It rained heavily on Tuesday.

7. without animation or vigor; in a dull manner; sluggishly.

Other Words From

• over·heavi·ly adverb
• un·heavi·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of heavily¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English hevyly, Old English hefiglīce; equivalent to heavy + -ly

Example Sentences

Walmart may also be able to push e-commerce more heavily on TikTok, and turn it into more of a livestream shopping app.

From Digiday

People who experienced childhood trauma are more likely to smoke or drink heavily, it found.

From Science News For Students

Similar to learning from our own experiences, this social learning circuit generates a “social prediction error”—one that heavily guides how we learn from others, but surprisingly, also how we learn from ourselves.

From Singularity Hub 

However, employment fears continue to weigh heavily everywhere.

From Fortune

Of course, these scores aren’t perfect either, as they’re heavily influenced by which bills actually get to the floor and which don’t, but they’re still useful for helping us distinguish conservatives from liberals from moderates.

From FiveThirtyEight

That fantasy, however, is still heavily regimented by all sorts of norms.

From The Daily Beast

The scene was heavily cordoned off to traffic and anyone not with the police, press, or residents.

From The Daily Beast

His later books drew heavily from experiences and people he encountered at the bar, including the cruel captain in The Sea-Wolf.

From The Daily Beast

I mean my background weighed heavily, because I was brought up in this orthodox way.

From The Daily Beast

But, under the hawkish eye of the media and through a heavily active social media presence, she carried on as usual.

From The Daily Beast

The left heel followed like lightning, and the right paw also slipped, letting the bear again fall heavily on the ice below.

From Project Gutenberg

Even New Zealand Brigade which has been only recently engaged lost heavily and is to some extent demoralised.

From Project Gutenberg

One heavily-laden boat was dragged into the stream, and a few officers and men clambered on board.

From Project Gutenberg

He was flung down heavily, and pinned prone in a corner by one of those bullies who knelt on his spine.

From Project Gutenberg

But before he reached it there was the shriek of a whistle, a violent shock, and he was hurled heavily into the opposite seat.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• densely
• massively
• thickly