Importance, consequence, moment, weight, significance, import are comparable when they denote the quality or the character or the state of someone or something that impresses others as of great or sometimes eminent worth, value, or influence.
Importance, probably the most inclusive of these terms, implies a judgment of the mind by which superior value or influence is ascribed to a person or thing.
Consequence (see also EFFECT ) is often used interchangeably with importance especially in implying superior social rank or distinction <men of consequence > but it usually implies importance because of the thing’s possible or probable outcome, effects, or results.
Moment implies conspicuous or self-evident consequence.
Weight implies a judgment of the relatively great importance or of the particular moment of the thing under consideration.
Significance and import are often used as though they were indistinguishable in meaning from importance or consequence, but they typically imply a quality or character in a person or thing which ought to mark it as of importance or consequence but which may or may not be recognized; thus, one may miss the significance of an occurrence; one may recognize the import of a piece of testimony.