carry weight
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Verb phrase: - To have importance, influence, or authority. When something or someone "carries weight," their opinions, decisions, or actions are considered significant and can affect outcomes.
Usage and Examples
- General Influence: Used to describe a person, group, or argument that is respected and persuasive.
- Her endorsement carries a lot of weight with the committee.
- In this company, experience carries more weight than a degree.
- Legal or Formal Authority: Indicates that a rule, precedent, or decision is authoritative and must be considered.
- The Supreme Court's ruling carries great weight in lower courts.
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- Degree of Influence: Often modified by adjectives like , , , , , or to specify the level of influence.
- His promises carry little weight anymore.
- The testimony of an eyewitness carries considerable weight with the jury.
- Contextual Weight: The influence is always relative to a specific context or group.
- His opinion carries no weight in financial matters, but in technical discussions, it is crucial.
Variants and Related Words
- Weighty (adj): Having great weight, importance, or seriousness.
- A weighty argument.
- Carry the day (idiom): To be victorious or to win an argument.
- Her compelling evidence carried the day.
Synonyms
- Be influential
- Be authoritative
- Count for something
- Have clout (informal)
- Have sway
Antonyms
- Be insignificant
- Carry no weight
- Have no influence
- Be inconsequential
Related Idioms and Phrases
- Pull one's weight: To do one's fair share of the work.
- Everyone on the team needs to pull their weight.
- Throw one's weight around: To use one's authority or influence in an aggressive, bullying way.
- The new manager started throwing his weight around immediately.
- Worth its weight in gold: Extremely valuable or useful.
- A reliable assistant is worth their weight in gold.
Verb
- have influence to a specified degree
- Her opinion carries a lot of weight