weight of the world
13
7.3
- idiom
- Informal
:
tener el mundo encima
- You carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.
- weight of the world on your shoulders
- carrying the weight of the world
- felt the weight of the world
And I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders.
- And I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders.
- I tried carrying the weight of the world, but I only have two hands.
- The Clave who has done nothing, OK, Literally these five teenagers are carrying the weight of the world and this government has done nothing.
- But now the weight of the world was off my shoulders because up until that point, I was paranoid.
- Because if you if you're usually up here and the weight of the world is on you now, tamping you down and you give up your positive habits, bam, you know you're in trouble.
Examples
-
He took the weight of the world on his shoulders.
-
I woke up and I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders.
-
I am feeling the weight of the world in my heart.
Blog text (8) -
You told me the weight of the world brings you down.
Blog text (25) -
And I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders.
-
I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders.
-
The responsibility felt like the weight of the world on her shoulders.
Fiction book (2001) -
I felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders.
Blog text (20) -
Verrilli is poker-faced, but he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Blog text (24) -
I feel like I have to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders every day.
Synonyms
482
3.4
A heavy load or something that causes worry and difficulty
181
4.2
A strong mental feeling of pressure or burden
91
4.1
A heavy burden of worry or responsibility
19
7.9
A difficult duty or burden someone must deal with
7
4.5
A strong sad feeling that makes you feel weighed down inside
5
8.1
A heavy burden that makes life hard
1
4.9
A heavy feeling of pressure because you have important duties
Antonyms
How Burdened
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'weight' (a burden) with 'world' (everything), so its overall sense as an enormous or overwhelming burden is inferable via a straightforward metaphorical extension of the parts. However, because the meaning is figurative rather than strictly compositional and carries idiomatic nuance about emotional responsibility, a B1 learner may grasp the general idea but not the full idiomatic usage without prior exposure.
Etymology
Weight of the world brings to mind the picture of someone carrying the whole earth on their shoulders, like the old story of Atlas, so you can see the heavy weight and the huge world together. So it means 'a great burden' or 'overwhelming responsibility'.