as in heavy
one of high position or importance within a group
many of the heavy hitters in the wine industry were boozing and schmoozing at the expo
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Recent Examples of heavy hitter
A number of New York galleries have closed in the past year, including heavy hitters like Sperone Westwater, Venus Over Manhattan, and Clearing, as well as nonprofits like Canal Projects.
—
News Desk, Artforum, 28 Jan. 2026
Most of the heavy hitters in the club of artists with over 100 million Spotify followers — names like Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Ed Sheeran, Drake, and the Weeknd — seem allergic to the concept of substantial time off.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2026
Originally called Juan y Lolita Rancho, the property quickly became a gathering place for local ranchers and riders, Hollywood heavy hitters, and visiting dignitaries.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 21 Jan. 2026
Baseball’s 2027 Hall of Fame ballot won’t feature many new heavy hitters, but at least one fresh addition has a compelling case for Cooperstown.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for heavy hitter
News Desk, Artforum, 28 Jan. 2026
Most of the heavy hitters in the club of artists with over 100 million Spotify followers — names like Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Ed Sheeran, Drake, and the Weeknd — seem allergic to the concept of substantial time off.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2026
Originally called Juan y Lolita Rancho, the property quickly became a gathering place for local ranchers and riders, Hollywood heavy hitters, and visiting dignitaries.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 21 Jan. 2026
Baseball’s 2027 Hall of Fame ballot won’t feature many new heavy hitters, but at least one fresh addition has a compelling case for Cooperstown.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for heavy hitter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heavy hitter
Noun
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The Paramount executive also became president of the American Motion Picture Association (precursor to the MPA) in 1925, beating out the likes of Marcus Loew, Lasky, William Fox, Hays, Sam Rothafel, Sam Katz, Carl Laemmle, Joseph Schenck, and other Hollywood heavies.—
Chris Yogerst,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Jan. 2026
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The Dark Ages gave us an extremely metal prequel that — while a bit too lore and cutscene-heavy — presented more surprising tricks and gameplay refreshes to keep the long-running FPS series alive and kicking butt.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
26 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Ceremonial looks channel national heritage through the lens of major designers and iconic brands—Ralph Lauren, Emporio Armani, and Moncler—while performance gear from heavyweights like Adidas and Lululemon has been engineered for the challenges of ice, altitude, and speed.—
Christina Pérez,
Vogue,
3 Feb. 2026
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Miller was supposed to fight at the arena against then-heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in 2019 but failed a drug test.—
Isabel Yip,
NBC news,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Fears has mastered the hostage dribble, pinning his defender in front of him and then waiting for his big to run back in front of him and take out the rim protector.—
CJ Moore,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
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Booker stood up to the Boilermakers’ bigs, blocking three shots of his own, playing a season-high 35 minutes three days after being iced out of the rotation against the Buckeyes.—
Aaron Heisen,
Daily News,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The comedy big guns come out to pay their respects to the groundbreaking genius whose comedy is still radical — Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler, Dave Chappelle, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman are just a few.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
8 Jan. 2026
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Sunday’s iteration – David Pastrnak-Pavel Zacha-Casey Mittelstadt – finished minus-2 and were outplayed by the Sens’ big guns.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
22 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Only little boys are called big boys.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
15 Jan. 2026
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There are big boys throwing their weight around, and there are wild skinnies with flying arms and spinning back-kicks, chopping out their emergency version of personal space.—
James Parker,
The Atlantic,
16 Dec. 2025
Noun
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More Coloradans are seeing the big wheel spin in their favor each year.—
Aldo Svaldi,
Denver Post,
5 Feb. 2026
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The cars that Geely showcased at CES, in Las Vegas, were large SUVs with big wheels, opulent interiors, and three rows of seats—not unlike a Ford Explorer.—
Patrick George,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Cohen is a star baseball player for Windward and Fullmer plays football for Harvard-Westlake and is the son of former major leaguer Brad Fullmer, one of the best players ever out of Montclair Prep.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Jan. 2026
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Former Yankees pitcher and the oldest living major leaguer Art Schallock died at age 100 on March 6.—
Brendan Le,
PEOPLE,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Brazil’s Joseph Contreras, a 17-year-old right-hander who is a son of former big leaguer José Contreras, is the youngest player on any roster.—
Ronald Blum,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Feb. 2026
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But chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is a former big leaguer and a Yale graduate.—
Dan Freedman,
Forbes.com,
17 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Heavy hitter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heavy%20hitter. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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