Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "heavy" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

тяжёлый

Meaning: heavy, diffucult, hard

Pronunciation: [tee-ZHOH-liy]

Part of speech: adjective

Rank: #396 (see frequency list)

The bag is very heavy.
Photo by lululemon athletica CC-BY-2.0

Example sentences:

Су́мка о́чень тяжёлая.
The bag is very heavy.
Ничего́, чемода́н не о́чень тяжёлый, cамá донесу́.
That's ok, the suitcase is not that heavy, I can сarry it myself.
literal Nothing, the suitcase is not very heavy, I can сarry it myself.
Извини́, у меня́ был тяжёлый день.
Sorry, I've just had a hard day.
Больно́й в тяжёлом состоя́нии.
The patient's condition is very serious.
literal The patient is in a serious condition.
У неё тяжёлый хара́ктер.
She's hard to get on with.
literal She has a difficult character.
Шахтёры рабо́тают в тяжёлых усло́виях.
Miners work in tough conditions.
Я вы́шел из óфиса с тяжёлым чу́вством.
I went out of the office with a heavy heart.
literal I went out of the office with a heavy feeling.
Смерть ма́тери была́ для него́ тяжёлым уда́ром.
His mother's death was a heavy blow for him.
Не ешь жи́рную тяжёлую пи́щу, тебе́ нельзя́.
Stop eating fatty junk food, you shouldn't do it.
literal Don't eat fatty heavy food, it's not allowed to you.
От жары́ голова́ ста́ла тяжёлой.
The head got heavy because of heat.
Разви́та ли тяжёлая промы́шленность в Росси́и?
Is heavy industry developed in Russia?
Да уж, то́чно, тяжёлый слу́чай! Сейча́с уже́ ничего́ не испра́вишь!
Yes, you're quite right, bad news! You can't do anything about it now.
literal Yes, you're quite right, difficult case! You can't do anything about it now.

Idioms and set expressions:

тяжёлый груз = heavy load
тяжёлый удáр = heavy blow
тяжёлые рóды = difficult birth / delivery
тяжёлая болéзнь = serious illness
literal hard illness
тяжёлое состоя́ние = grave condition
тяжёлые мы́сли = gloomy thoughts
literal heavy thoughts
с тяжёлым чу́вством = with a heavy heart
тяжёлый зáпах = heavy smell
тяжёлая промы́шленность = heavy industry
тяжёлая артиллéрия = heavy artillery
тяжёлая пи́ща = heavy food
тяжёлая атлéтика = weigtlifting
тяжёлый слу́чай = bad news
literal heavy case
быть тяжёлым на подъём = be sluggish
рукá тяжëлая = be unlucky
literal heavy hand
в тяжëлой фóрме = in bad condition (illness)
literal in heavy form

Related words:

тру́дный = difficult
тяжелó = hard, difficult (adverb)
тя́жесть = weight, gravity

Proverbs and sayings:

Тяжела́ ты, ша́пка Мономáха! (А.С.Пушкин)
Power is a heavy load.
literal How heavy you are, Monomakh hat! (A.S.Pushkin)
Тяжела́ рабо́та, да хлеб сла́док.
Work is hard, but bread is sweet.
Ма́ленькие де́тки тяжелы́ на коле́нях, а больши́е - на се́рдце.
Small children are heavy on your knees, but big children, on your heart.

Vocabulary lesson: By Russificate blog exclusively for MasterRussian

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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