Featherweight
//ˈfɛðɚˌweɪt// noun
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A weight class in many combat sports; e.g. in professional boxing of a maximum of 126 pounds or 57.2 kilograms.
"Safety and fairness in female sport was one of the most prominent topics at this summer’s Olympic Games, where boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu Ting took gold in the women’s welterweight and featherweight categories respectively."
- 2 A weight class division in combat sports, for fighters heavier than those in the bantamweight division and lighter than those in the lightweight division. wordnet
- 3 A sportsman who fights in this division.
"Watson specializes in adiposeness; none of his chorus beauties may be considered featherweights."
- 4 a professional boxer who weighs between 123 and 126 pounds wordnet
- 5 The lightest weight that may be carried by a racehorse.
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 weighs 126-139 pounds wordnet
- 7 an amateur boxer who weighs no more than 126 pounds wordnet
Example
More examples"He was dressed in khaki pants tucked into mud-flecked black gumboots, his torso swallowed up by a silver-grey suit jacket that was several sizes too large for his featherweight frame."
Etymology
From feather + weight.
Related phrases
More for "featherweight"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.