tail-heavy

[ teyl-hev-ee ]

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a craft or vehicle that is too heavy in the rear, from overloading or poor design.

tail-heavy

adjective

1. (of an aircraft) having too much weight at the rear because of overloading or poor design

Word History and Origins

Origin of tail-heavy¹

First recorded in 1915–20; tail ¹( def ) + heavy ( def )

Example Sentences

“I guess it’s like an airplane: they’re the drag and we’re the thrust, together we make the thing fly. Too much of us and we’re nose-heavy, too much of them and we’re tail-heavy — it’s a matter of balance.”

From Time

But the feel of the weighty jet was far removed from that of the SpaceShipTwo’s twitchy, tail-heavy glider.

From Washington Post

Shifting freight can make the plane either nose-heavy or tail-heavy, and the pilot has no way of knowing whether that has happened until after the plane is airborne, when it may be too late.

From Slate

The suddenly tail-heavy aircraft plummeted to the ground immediately after takeoff, skidding through a busy part of Miami and killing a man on the ground along with several crew members.

From Slate

Rolling backward, a tail-heavy plane is liable to tip on its rear end if the brakes are applied forcefully enough.

From Salon