Meaning & use
heavy-duty or heavy-duty
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Made to be strong and to last through hard, rough or frequent use.
Grammar: Usually comes before the noun it describes: heavy-duty gloves. It can also follow a linking verb: these gloves are heavy-duty.
Patterns
- heavy-duty + noun
- be heavy-duty
You'll need heavy-duty boots for walking on those rocks.
The workshop keeps a heavy-duty drill for metal and concrete.
She bought a heavy-duty cover so the rain wouldn't ruin the machine.
adjectivebefore a noun
Involving serious, intense or demanding work or activity.
Grammar: Used before nouns such as work, schedule, or training to show that the activity is intense.
Patterns
- heavy-duty + noun
The first month of the course is heavy-duty reading and writing.
After a heavy-duty week at the hospital, he slept all Saturday.
They gave the new staff a heavy-duty training program.
Common combinations
- heavy-duty equipment
- The site is full of heavy-duty equipment that only trained workers may operate.
- heavy-duty truck
- A heavy-duty truck can pull loads that would break a smaller vehicle.
- heavy-duty work
- Cleaning the factory floor is heavy-duty work.
- heavy-duty battery
- The flashlight runs on a heavy-duty battery that lasts for hours.
- heavy-duty use
- These pans are designed for heavy-duty use in busy kitchens.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rugged
- Describes something tough and able to survive rough conditions, often used of clothing or vehicles, but it says nothing about how much weight or force the thing can take.
- industrial-strength
- Means strong enough for factory or commercial use; it is narrower than heavy-duty and usually refers to cleaners or machines rather than everyday items.
- sturdy
- Means solidly built and not easily broken, but it is milder than heavy-duty and fits ordinary furniture or shoes as well as tough equipment.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: heavy-duty or heavy-duty or heavy hearted?
heavy-duty or heavy-duty vs heavy hearted
This means feeling sad, not strong or tough. Do not mix it up with heavy-duty, which describes sturdy things or demanding work.
Practice
Which sentence uses heavy-duty correctly?
Choose one answer.
Heavy-duty is an adjective, so the hyphenated form works before 'enough' and after the linking verb 'are'. Option 1 drops the hyphen, which is acceptable in informal writing, but option 0 is the standard spelling; 'duty-heavy' and 'heavy-duties' are not real words.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “heavy-duty or heavy-duty”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.