hefty

With heft; heavy, strong, vigorous, mighty, impressive

Adjective

  1. With heft; heavy, strong, vigorous, mighty, impressive
    • He can throw a hefty punch.
    • The Remove dormitory echoed to the old, familiar sound of Bunter's hefty snore. - 1934, Frank Richards, The Magnet, Kidnapped from the Air:
    • Fill up on some of the heftiest burritos in captivity, fashioned around grilled beef, chicken, greasy and indulgent barbecued pork al pastor, carnitas and the more exotic [things]. - 1998, The Best of San Francisco and...
  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.
    • a hefty fine

Origin

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.

Forms

heftier heftiest

Derived

heftily heftiness unhefty