carry weight

present singular third person carries weight · participle present carrying weight · participle past carried weight · past carried weight

1. To be handicapped by an extra burden, as when one rides or runs.
2. To have influence.

   Your excuses don't carry weight with me.

   5 more examples

   Our motion did not carry much weight with the judge.

   When M. Paladilhe was elected my friends said to me: 'Never mind; later on he'll vote for you, Maestro, and his support will carry a lot of weight'. I never had his vote, nor his support, nor his weight.

   1948, Rollo H. Myers, Erik Satie, D. Dobson, page 31

   Manning Senior carries a lot of weight around here, he has a lot of friends; a lot of professional clout and can obviously get things done just barely within the lines of legality.

   2002, Elizabeth Moynihan, Destiny's Whisper, Writers Club Press, page 376

   A recommendation from him carries a lot of weight around here.

   2010, Gordon Ryan, American Voices: State of Rebellion,, page 247

   What began as something loose and exploratory, from a budding musician who’s been writing songs since early adolescence, suddenly carried weight.

   2026 July 6, Jonathan Cohen, “Violet Grohl Finds Her Own Frequency”, in SPIN, archived from the original on 08 Jul 2026