weighed down
6
4.5
- phrasal verb
- /weɪd daʊn/
- Informal
:
agobiado
- Well, why do I feel so weighed down by it?
You enter the clinic, shoulders weighed down by white coat pockets, book stuffed, timid.
- You enter the clinic, shoulders weighed down by white coat pockets, book stuffed, timid.
Examples
-
The woman's posture was tired; a messenger bag weighed down her right side.
-
The passengers were pressed to the windows, weighed down with cameras, guidebooks, and bottled water.
-
I think you should have fun and not be so weighed down by the weight of expectations.
-
I do, however, find myself weighed down by the responsibility of being the chief family archivist.
Blog text (27) -
Mandy suddenly felt weighed down by the burden of her secret self.
Fiction book (1998) -
It's been a hard week for the environment, weighed down by our mistreatment and greed.
Blog text (17) -
Having fewer things means you're not as weighed down by the stuff and and you're able to enjoy the moment a lot more.
-
Their sharp-featured waitress is weighed down with her heavy tray, yet eager to please.
Fiction book (2002) -
A woman bustles past, Nancy Bender, weighed down with groceries.
Fiction book (1999) -
I think you should have fun and not be so weighed down by the weight of expectations.
Synonyms
16
5.5
Full of a strong feeling such as guilt or sadness
3
4.2
Has more than it can safely hold, for example weight, work, or electricity
1
4.6
Having too much work or responsibility to manage
1
6.5
Very tired and weighed down by too much work or worry
1
6.5
Weighed down by worry or responsibility
1
5.3
Having more work, duties, or worry than you can handle
1
7.0
Carrying more weight or things than it can safely hold
Made heavy and hard to move or feeling very tired
Full of worry and sadness because of problems
Having an unwanted duty or problem you must deal with
Not able to move easily because of heavy things or too many duties
Carrying a heavy weight that makes moving slow or hard
Feeling very sad and weighed down by strong stress or pressure
Feeling very sad and down
Antonyms
How Burdened
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'burdened or oppressed' is directly derivable from combining 'weigh' (having weight or causing pressure) with 'down' (toward a lower position), so the image of being pushed down by weight maps clearly onto both physical and figurative burdens. This verb+particle construction and the weight-for-emotion metaphor are common cross-linguistically, making the sense readily inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituents.
Etymology
Weighed down comes from the picture of a heavy thing pushing you down, as if the weight is weighed on your shoulders and makes you bend like a backpack or snow on a branch. So it means to feel 'burdened' by physical weight or by worries.