Basic Details
Word: Weighty
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Serious and important; also heavy.
Synonyms: serious, important, significant, heavy
Antonyms: trivial, unimportant, minor
How to Spell Weighty
Syllables: weigh - ty
Tricky part: The silent gh of weight stays: weight + y. Students write weity, waighty or wieghty.
Watch out for: weity, waighty, wieghty
Memory tip: Weight with a y on the end makes weighty. The eigh is the same as in eight and neighbour.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The council has weighty decisions to make about the city's water supply.
Example 2: She carried a weighty dictionary in her school bag every day.
Example 3: The judge paused for a long moment before the weighty announcement.
Fun Fact
In science, weight and mass are not the same. Your mass stays the same on the Moon, but your weight there is only about one sixth of your weight on Earth.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to complete the word:
w__ghty
a) e, i
b) e, a
c) a, i
d) i, e
Show answer
a) e, i. After the w comes ei, the same pair you see in eight.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word weighty as used in the sentence:
The prime minister spoke about weighty issues such as climate change and jobs for young people.
a) light
b) trivial
c) funny
d) serious
Show answer
d) serious. Climate change and jobs are serious matters, not trivial or funny ones.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. weighty 2. lenth 3. volumne 4. measurment
a) the amount of space that something fills
b) the size or amount of something found by measuring
c) serious and important, or heavy
d) how long something is
Show answer
c) serious and important, or heavy. Measurement keeps the e of measure, length has a g, and volume has no n.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The headteacher called a meeting to discuss a weighty matter. It was most likely ____.
a) the colour of the staff-room curtains
b) a new name for the school goldfish
c) the plan to rebuild the unsafe science block
d) which biscuits to serve at the staff tea
Show answer
c) the plan to rebuild the unsafe science block
2. Weighty can mean heavy, but it also means ____.
a) small and cheap
b) quick and easy
c) funny and light
d) serious and important
Show answer
d) serious and important
