`Weighted` describes a system, test, score, rule or arrangement that has been deliberately set up so one side gets more influence, or an easier time, than another. The picture behind it is old scales with a thumb pressed on one pan: the result is decided partly before anything is measured. The usual patterns are **weighted towards** (favouring) and **weighted against** (working to someone's disadvantage): "the system is weighted against small farmers," "funding is weighted towards rural schools." Notice the word does not by itself say whether this is unfair. That depends on why. In statistics, finance and education it is a neutral technical term meaning "counted with different multipliers": a weighted average gives some numbers more pull than others on purpose, a weighted grade counts the final exam more than homework, a weighted index counts big companies more than small ones. In politics or social comment, though, the same word is usually an accusation — it suggests the rules were tilted, quietly, for someone's benefit. Tone of voice and context tell you which. Two other uses you may meet, from the literal side: a **weighted blanket** (a heavy blanket that helps some people sleep) and a weighted stick or vest in training — here it simply means "with weight added." And the plain verb sense stands behind all of them: to weight something is to add weight to it, physically or figuratively. The word is at home in written and formal English — reports, news, policy documents — more than in casual chat, where people would say "it's set up to favour them."