hefty
/ˈhɛfti/adjective
hefty is spelled H-E-F-T-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, hefty means “With heft; heavy, strong, vigorous, mighty, impressive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hefty?
| Letters | 5: H-E-F-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 18,064th 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 hefty?
Hefty appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th 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 hefty?
- /ˈhɛfti/
Hefty has 2 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-hefty.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hefty
- heftier comparative
- heftiest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hefty mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
With heft; heavy, strong, vigorous, mighty, impressive
He can throw a hefty punch.
- 2
Strong; bulky.
They use some hefty bolts to hold up road signs.
- 3
Possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful; powerfully or heavily built.
He was a tall, hefty man.
- 4
Heavy, weighing a lot.
She carries a hefty backpack full of books.
- 5
Large, healthy.
That's going to cost you a hefty sum.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hefty in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | lourd , baraqué, costaud |
| German | schwer , kräftig, mächtig , beeindruckend , deftig, klobig |
| Portuguese | pesado , forte , poderoso , robusto |
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 hefty come from?
19th century. From heft (“weight”) + -y. The similarity with German heftig (“vigorous, violent, intense”) is apparently coincidental. From the German are Dutch, Danish, Norwegian heftig, Swedish häftig.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).