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Thick vs Heavy - What's the difference?

thick | heavy |

As adjectives the difference between thick and heavy

is that thick is relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension while heavy is (of a physical object) having great weight or heavy can be having the heaves.

As adverbs the difference between thick and heavy

is that thick is in a thick manner while heavy is heavily.

As nouns the difference between thick and heavy

is that thick is the thickest, or most active or intense, part of something while heavy is a villain or bad guy; the one responsible for evil or aggressive acts.

As verbs the difference between thick and heavy

is that thick is (archaic|transitive) to thicken while heavy is to make heavier.

thick

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=17 citation , passage=The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue. […].}}
  • Measuring a certain number of units in this dimension.
  • Heavy in build; thickset.
  • * 2007 , James T. Knight, Queen of the Hustle
    • As she twirled around in front of the mirror admiring how the dress showed off her thick booty, she felt like a princess in a children's storybook.
  • Densely crowded or packed.
  • * , chapter=3
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
  • Having a viscous consistency.
  • Abounding in number.
  • Impenetrable to sight.
  • Difficult to understand, or poorly articulated.
  • (informal) Stupid.
  • (informal) Friendly or intimate.
  • * T. Hughes
    • We have been thick ever since.
  • Deep, intense, or profound.
  • * Shakespeare
    • thick sleep

    Synonyms

    * (relatively great in extent from one surface to another) broad * (measuring a certain number of units in this dimension) * (heavy in build) chunky, solid, stocky, thickset * (densely crowded or packed) crowded, dense, packed * (having a viscous consistency) glutinous, viscous * (abounding in number) overflowing, swarming, teeming * (impenetrable to sight) dense, opaque, solid * (sense) unclear * dense, dumb (informal), stupid, thick as pigshit (taboo slang), thick as two short planks (slang) * (sense) chummy (qualifier), close, close-knit, friendly, pally (informal), intimate, tight-knit * great, extreme * See also

    Antonyms

    * (relatively great in extent from one surface to another) slim, thin * (heavy in build) slender, slight, slim, svelte, thin * (densely crowded or packed) sparse * (having a viscous consistency) free-flowing, runny * (abounding in number) * (impenetrable to sight) thin, transparent * (sense) clear, lucid * brainy (informal), intelligent, smart * (sense) unacquainted

    Derived terms

    * blood is thicker than water * thick and thin * thick as a brick * thick as a plank * thick as thieves * thick as two short planks * thicket * thickhead * thickish * thickly * thicko * thickness * thickset * thick-skinned * thick-un * thicky

    Adverb

    (er)
  • In a thick manner.
    • Snow lay thick on the ground.
  • Thickly.
    • Bread should be sliced thick to make toast.
  • Frequently; in great numbers.
    • The arrows flew thick and fast around us.

    Noun

    (-)
  • The thickest, or most active or intense, part of something.
    • It was mayhem in the thick of battle.
  • * Dryden
    • He through a little window cast his sight / Through thick of bars, that gave a scanty light.
  • A thicket.
  • * Drayton
    • gloomy thicks
  • * Spenser
    • Through the thick they heard one rudely rush.
  • A stupid person; a fool.
  • * 2014 , Joseph O'Connor, The Thrill of It All (page 100)
    • If there was doctorates in bollocksology and scratching yourself in bed, the two of you'd be professors by now. Pair of loafing, idle thicks .

    Derived terms

    * in the thick of * through thick and thin

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic) To thicken.
    • The nightmare Life-in-death was she, / Who thicks man's blood with cold. — Coleridge.
    1000 English basic words

    heavy

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) hevy, .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (of a physical object) Having great weight.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.
  • (of a topic) Serious, somber.
  • Not easy to bear; burdensome; oppressive.
    • heavy yokes, expenses, undertakings, trials, news, etc.
  • * Bible, 1 Sam. v. 6
    • The hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod.
  • * Shakespeare
    • The king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make.
  • * Wordsworth
    • Sent hither to impart the heavy news.
  • (British, slang, dated) Good.
  • Profound.
  • (of a rate of flow) High, great.
  • (slang) Armed.
  • (music) Louder, more distorted.
  • (of weather) Hot and humid.
  • (of a person) Doing the specified activity more intensely than most other people.
  • (of food) High in fat or protein; difficult to digest.
  • Of great force, power, or intensity; deep or intense.
  • * 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Chapter IV
    • The surf was not heavy , and there was no undertow, so we made shore easily, effecting an equally easy landing.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Out of the gloom , passage=[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.}}
  • Laden to a great extent.
  • Laden with that which is weighty; encumbered; burdened; bowed down, either with an actual burden, or with grief, pain, disappointment, etc.
  • * Chapman
    • The heavy [sorrowing] nobles all in council were.
  • * Shakespeare
    • A light wife doth make a heavy husband.
  • Slow; sluggish; inactive; or lifeless, dull, inanimate, stupid.
    • a heavy gait, looks, manners, style, etc.
    a heavy writer or book
  • * Shakespeare
    • whilst the heavy ploughman snores
  • * Dryden
    • a heavy , dull, degenerate mind
  • * Bible, Is. lix. 1
    • Neither [is] his ear heavy , that it cannot hear.
  • Impeding motion; cloggy; clayey.
    • a heavy''' road; a '''heavy soil
  • Not raised or leavened.
    • heavy bread
  • Having much body or strength; said of wines or spirits.
  • (obsolete) With child; pregnant.
    • Synonyms
    * sweer/swear
    Derived terms
    (heavy) * heavily * heaviness * heavy-armed * heavy artillery * heavy chain * heavy-coated * heavy cream * heavy drinker * heavy-duty * heavy-footed * heavy goods * heavy-handed * heavyhead * heavy-headed * heavy heart * heavy-hearted * heavy hitter * heavy hydrogen * heavy industry * heavy ion * heavyish * heavy-laden * heavy-lift * heavy lifting * heavy metal * heavy oil * heavy particle * heavy roller * heavy sea * heavy-set/heavyset * heavy sink * heavy spar * heavy tail * heavy water * heavyweight * heavy wet * HGV * hot and heavy * semi-heavy * top-heavy

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • heavily
    • heavy laden with their sins
  • (India, colloquial) very

    • Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A villain or bad guy; the one responsible for evil or aggressive acts.
    • With his wrinkled, uneven face, the actor always seemed to play the heavy in films.
  • (slang) A doorman, bouncer or bodyguard.
    • A fight started outside the bar but the heavies came out and stopped it.
  • (aviation) A large multi-engined aircraft.
    • The term heavy normally follows the call-sign when used by air traffic controllers.

    Verb

  • To make heavier.
  • To sadden.
  • (Australia, New Zealand, informal) To use power and/or wealth to exert influence on, e.g., governments or corporations; to pressure.
    • The union was well known for the methods it used to heavy many businesses.
  • * 1985 , Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives Weekly Hansard , Issue 11, Part 1, page 1570,
    • the Prime Minister sought to evade the simple fact that he heavied Mr Reid to get rid of Dr Armstrong.
  • * 2001 , Finola Moorhead, Darkness More Visible , Spinifex Press, Australia, page 557,
    • But he is on the wrong horse, heavying me. My phone?s tapped. Well, he won?t find anything.
  • * 2005 , David Clune, Ken Turner (editors), The Premiers of New South Wales, 1856-2005 , Volume 3: 1901-2005, page 421,
    • But the next two days of the Conference also produced some very visible lobbying for the succession and apparent heavying of contenders like Brereton, Anderson and Mulock - much of it caught on television.

    Etymology 2

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having the heaves.
    • a heavy horse

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words