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Glite Dictionary
great weight

great weight

4 4.0
Much importance that affects a decision or result
  • noun
translation icon : gran peso
  • Courts should carefully weigh the equities and give great weight to the public health risks involved.
  • give great weight
  • place great weight
  • carry great weight

For age has pressed its great weight on him at every point.

Examples

  • Because the clergy carry great weight among African Americans and Latinos, it is important to encourage their participation.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Probably no detective novelist has given greater weight to the victim than has the British writer P. D. James.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Which conditions carry the greatest weight in the analysis?

    Academic text (2016)

  • His voice was kind as he spoke, but his words carried great weight.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • What should bear the greatest weight in any given essay?

    Academic text (1997)

  • We should move away from the command-and-control model and give greater weight to positive incentives.

    Academic text (2004)

  • For the court to give this testimony great weight was somewhat misguided.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Therefore, their decisions have greater weight in terms of the benefits to be dispensed or withheld.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The most important policy reform would be to give greater weight to immigrant skills as criteria for admission.

    Academic text (1998)

  • The teachers gave great weight to students' feedback when revising the curriculum.

Synonyms

weight
vsgreat weight
374 3.0

Importance or influence given to something

expresses a notably high level of importance or strong influence

Antonyms

insignificant
104 4.1

Not important or too small to matter

lightweight
  • Offensive
15 3.5

Not very important or influential

How Important

great weight
4 4.0
weight
374 3.0

Surface Forms

great weight singular
great weights plural

Morphology

great + weight

The meaning 'considerable importance' is directly and compositionally derived from 'great' (large/significant) modifying 'weight' (degree of importance or influence). This adjective + noun combination and the metaphorical use of 'weight' for importance are common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Great weight comes from the image of a heavy weight on a scale that pushes one side down. So when an idea or person has great weight, it means 'great importance' or 'influence'.