Meanings
plural heavy metals
- countablesciencesAny metal that has a specific gravity greater than about 5, especially one, such as lead, that is poisonous and may be a hazard in the environment. (There are many different definitions of what counts as a heavy metal; see Heavy metals for a discussion.)
- uncountableentertainmentA genre descended from rock music, characterized by the use of emphatic drumbeats, highly amplified distortion, and overall loudness; often featuring extended instrumental solos and powerful vocals.
Synonyms: metal
- uncountableentertainmentThe first form of metal music, which arose in the late 1960s and the 1970s, and is closer to the rock music of the time than most other subgenres of metal.
Synonyms: metal
- uncountableGuns or shot of large size.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA genre descended from rock music, characterized by the use of emphatic drumbeats, highly amplified distortion, and overall loudness; often featuring extended instrumental solos and powerful vocals.
nounThe first form of metal music, which arose in the late 1960s and the 1970s, and is closer to the rock music of the time than most other subgenres of metal.
More synonyms by meaning
nounloud and harsh sounding rock music with a strong beat; lyrics usually involve violent or fantastic imagery
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
According to the Oxford World's Classics edition of Anthony Trollope's Rachel Ray (1863), "big guns," as on a warship. The origin of the music genre sense is often disputed; it was used by William S. Burroughs in Soft Machine and Nova Express and various music critics claim to have coined it: Sandy Pearlman, Lester Bangs and Mike Saunders.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُوسِيقَى الْمِيتَال, هيفي ميتال
- مُوسِيقَى الْمِيتَال (mūsīqā l-mītāl)genre of music
- هيفي ميتال (hīfī mītāl)genre of music
Bulgarian хе́виме́тъл
- хе́виме́тъл (hévimétăl)genre of music
Catalan metall pesant
- metall pesanttype of metal
Chinese Mandarin 重金屬 /重金属, 重金屬音樂 /重金属音乐
- 重金屬 /重金属 (zhòngjīnshǔ)type of metal
- 重金屬音樂 /重金属音乐 (zhòngjīnshǔ yīnyuè)genre of music
Danish tungmetal
- tungmetaltype of metal
Dutch heavy metal
- heavy metalgenre of music
Esperanto pezmetalo, metalroko
- pezmetalotype of metal
- metalrokogenre of music
Finnish raskasmetalli, heavy metal
- raskasmetallitype of metal
- heavy metalgenre of music
- hevigenre of music
French métal lourd, heavy metal
- métal lourdtype of metal
- heavy metalgenre of music
German Schwermetall, Heavy Metal
- Schwermetalltype of metal
- Heavy Metalgenre of music
- Metalgenre of music
Hebrew הבי מטאל
- הבי מטאלgenre of music
Hindi हेवी मेटल
- हेवी मेटल (hevī meṭal)genre of music
Hungarian nehézfém, heavy metal
- nehézfémtype of metal
- heavy metalgenre of music
Indonesian logam berat
- logam berattype of metal
Italian metallo pesante, heavy metal
- metallo pesantetype of metal
- heavy metalgenre of music
Japanese 重金属, ヘヴィメタル
- 重金属 (jūkinzoku)type of metal
- ヘヴィメタル (hevimetaru)genre of music
- ヘビーメタル (hebīmetaru)genre of music
- ヘビメタ (hebimeta)genre of music
- メタル (metaru)genre of music
Korean 중금속, 헤비 메탈
- 중금속 (junggeumsok)type of metal
- 헤비 메탈genre of music
Malay logam berat
- logam berattype of metal
Norwegian Bokmål tungmetall
- tungmetalltype of metal
Polish ciężki metal, heavy metal
- ciężki metaltype of metal
- heavy metalgenre of music
Portuguese metal pesado, heavy metal
- metal pesadotype of metal
- heavy metalgenre of music
- metalgenre of music
Romanian metal greu
- metal greutype of metal
Russian тяжёлый мета́лл, хе́ви-ме́тал
- тяжёлый мета́лл (tjažólyj metáll)type of metal
- хе́ви-ме́тал (xɛ́vi-mɛ́tal)genre of music
- мета́лл (metáll)genre of music
Spanish metal pesado, rock pesado
- metal pesadotype of metal
- rock pesadogenre of music
- heavy metalgenre of music
Swedish tungmetall, heavy metal
- tungmetalltype of metal
- heavy metalgenre of music
- hårdrockgenre of music
Thai โลหะหนัก, เฮฟวีเมทัล
- โลหะหนักtype of metal
- เฮฟวีเมทัลgenre of music
Turkish ağır metal
- ağır metaltype of metal
Ukrainian хе́ві-ме́тал
- хе́ві-ме́тал (xévi-métal)genre of music
Cite this entry
heavy metal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heavy%20metal
“heavy metal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heavy%20metal. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heavy metal,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heavy%20metal.
Source: heavy metal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.