top-heavy
3
6.1
- adjective
- /ˈtɑpˌhɛvi/
:
inestable
- After a few spins, I started to feel top-heavy and needed to sit down.
- top-heavy superstructure
- top-heavy vehicle
- top-heavy structure
The plants have gotten quite tall so they don't have support, but the one thing with serranos is that they get a little top heavy.
- The plants have gotten quite tall so they don't have support, but the one thing with serranos is that they get a little top heavy.
- He is a he's very top heavy man.
- Well, then you actually are super top heavy and what happens is this goes like this because you're over over indexed on one and the tripod falls over.
Examples
-
Many universities are becoming top-heavy with administration at the expense of renewed or new full-time faculty positions.
Academic text (2017) -
You will hit a bit of rough water, and the Marina, one of our favorite ships, is a bit top-heavy.
Blog text (25) -
Yeah, because it's quite top heavy, it does need to kind of be supported a bit more.
-
- I feel a little top-heavy.
-
The Sultana is top-heavy with all these soldiers on board.
-
Without a counterweight, the sail is top-heavy, and keeping it balanced is frustrating.
Blog text (1) -
They're still probably not deep enough to challenge Virginia for the ACC Championship, but they're top-heavy enough to place well at the NCAA championships.
Blog text (9) -
The eighteen-member commission is top-heavy with fiscal conservatives and hostile right-wingers who yearn to dismantle the retirement program.
Blog text (3) -
The new office building is top-heavy, which makes it vulnerable to strong winds.
-
His top-heavy emotions overwhelmed him, leaving him feeling dizzy and unbalanced.
Synonyms
168
1.0
Feeling like the room or world is turning and you may fall
1
4.9
Unsteady and likely to fall to one side
Likely to fall because the top is heavy or unbalanced
Antonyms
How Unbalanced
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word top-heavy comes from joining top and heavy, and it literally means the 'top' is too 'heavy'. So something that is top-heavy can tip over or feel unsteady, which is why we use the word for both physical things and for ideas or plans that are unbalanced.