heavily
/ˈhɛvɪli/adverb
heavily is spelled H-E-A-V-I-L-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,785th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, heavily means “With a great weight” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in heavily?
| Letters | 7: H-E-A-V-I-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 35 times per million words; the 2,785th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is heavily?
Heavily appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,785th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce heavily?
- /ˈhɛvɪli/
Heavily has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-heavily.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of heavily
- more heavily comparative
- most heavily superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does heavily mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
With a great weight.
heavily burdened
- 2
To a considerable degree, to a great extent.
He relied heavily on the data collected by the others.
- 3
In a manner designed for heavy duty.
heavily armed soldiers; heavily armoured tanks; heavily reinforced walls
- 4
So as to be thick or heavy.
heavily built young men; his heavily muscled arms
- 5
In a laboured manner.
he breathed heavily
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Heavily in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in a heavy manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | pesadamente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does heavily come from?
From Middle English hevely, hevyliche, from Old English hefiġlīċe (“heavily; grievously”), equivalent to heavy + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).