diff --git a/base/Base.jl b/base/Base.jl
index c39b08b13539b..0595cd4674da6 100644
--- a/base/Base.jl
+++ b/base/Base.jl
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ setproperty!(x::Type, f::Symbol, v) = setfield!(x, f, v)
 getproperty(x::Tuple, f::Int) = getfield(x, f)
 setproperty!(x::Tuple, f::Int, v) = setfield!(x, f, v) # to get a decent error
 
-getproperty(Core.@nospecialize(x), f::Symbol) = getfield(x, f)
+getproperty(x, f::Symbol) = getfield(x, f)
 setproperty!(x, f::Symbol, v) = setfield!(x, f, convert(fieldtype(typeof(x), f), v))
 
 include("coreio.jl")
diff --git a/base/compiler/tfuncs.jl b/base/compiler/tfuncs.jl
index a9543bcac4eba..43b39beff2351 100644
--- a/base/compiler/tfuncs.jl
+++ b/base/compiler/tfuncs.jl
@@ -79,7 +79,9 @@ function instanceof_tfunc(@nospecialize(t))
         t′ = unwrap_unionall(t)
         t′′, isexact = instanceof_tfunc(t′)
         tr = rewrap_unionall(t′′, t)
-        if t′′ isa DataType && !has_free_typevars(tr)
+        # Note: adding the <:Tuple upper bound in NamedTuple was part of the load time
+        # regression in #33615.
+        if t′′ isa DataType && !has_free_typevars(tr) && t′′.name !== NamedTuple_typename
             # a real instance must be within the declared bounds of the type,
             # so we can intersect with the original wrapper.
             tr = typeintersect(tr, t′′.name.wrapper)
diff --git a/base/essentials.jl b/base/essentials.jl
index 8a9ca0d2bc325..36887ea27c06a 100644
--- a/base/essentials.jl
+++ b/base/essentials.jl
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ true
 function convert end
 
 convert(::Type{Union{}}, x) = throw(MethodError(convert, (Union{}, x)))
-convert(::Type{Any}, @nospecialize(x)) = x
+convert(::Type{Any}, x) = x
 convert(::Type{T}, x::T) where {T} = x
 convert(::Type{Type}, x::Type) = x # the ssair optimizer is strongly dependent on this method existing to avoid over-specialization
                                    # in the absence of inlining-enabled
diff --git a/base/linked_list.jl b/base/linked_list.jl
index 195d2d02d61f1..beceb24a27f40 100644
--- a/base/linked_list.jl
+++ b/base/linked_list.jl
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ function list_deletefirst!(q::InvasiveLinkedList{T}, val::T) where T
         head_next = head.next
         while head_next !== val
             head = head_next
-            head_next = head.next
+            head_next = head.next::Union{T, Nothing}
         end
         if q.tail::T === val
             head.next = nothing
diff --git a/base/promotion.jl b/base/promotion.jl
index e5188755a3244..6436ee3982dcd 100644
--- a/base/promotion.jl
+++ b/base/promotion.jl
@@ -104,7 +104,9 @@ function typejoin(@nospecialize(a), @nospecialize(b))
                 if ai === bi || (isa(ai,Type) && isa(bi,Type) && ai <: bi && bi <: ai)
                     aprimary = aprimary{ai}
                 else
-                    pushfirst!(vars, aprimary.var)
+                    # pushfirst!(vars, aprimary.var)
+                    _growbeg!(vars, 1)
+                    arrayset(false, vars, aprimary.var, 1)
                     aprimary = aprimary.body
                 end
             end
diff --git a/base/regex.jl b/base/regex.jl
index 5c1ba8c37e956..0f5074bf026f8 100644
--- a/base/regex.jl
+++ b/base/regex.jl
@@ -643,7 +643,7 @@ function *(r1::Union{Regex,AbstractString,AbstractChar}, rs::Union{Regex,Abstrac
     shared = mask
     for r in (r1, rs...)
         r isa Regex || continue
-        if match_opts == nothing
+        if match_opts === nothing
             match_opts = r.match_options
             compile_opts = r.compile_options & ~mask
         else
diff --git a/base/strings/io.jl b/base/strings/io.jl
index 3d4f8139a8425..72379da01de91 100644
--- a/base/strings/io.jl
+++ b/base/strings/io.jl
@@ -107,11 +107,22 @@ function sprint(f::Function, args...; context=nothing, sizehint::Integer=0)
     String(resize!(s.data, s.size))
 end
 
-tostr_sizehint(x) = 8
-tostr_sizehint(x::AbstractString) = lastindex(x)
-tostr_sizehint(x::Union{String,SubString{String}}) = sizeof(x)
-tostr_sizehint(x::Float64) = 20
-tostr_sizehint(x::Float32) = 12
+# CategoricalArrays extends this
+function tostr_sizehint end
+
+function _str_sizehint(x)
+    if x isa Float64
+        return 20
+    elseif x isa Float32
+        return 12
+    elseif x isa String || x isa SubString{String}
+        return sizeof(x)
+    elseif x isa Char
+        return ncodeunits(x)
+    else
+        return 8
+    end
+end
 
 function print_to_string(xs...)
     if isempty(xs)
@@ -119,7 +130,7 @@ function print_to_string(xs...)
     end
     siz::Int = 0
     for x in xs
-        siz += tostr_sizehint(x)
+        siz += _str_sizehint(x)
     end
     # specialized for performance reasons
     s = IOBuffer(sizehint=siz)
@@ -135,7 +146,7 @@ function string_with_env(env, xs...)
     end
     siz::Int = 0
     for x in xs
-        siz += tostr_sizehint(x)
+        siz += _str_sizehint(x)
     end
     # specialized for performance reasons
     s = IOBuffer(sizehint=siz)
diff --git a/base/task.jl b/base/task.jl
index 25b2459160b95..6cf31f44235bb 100644
--- a/base/task.jl
+++ b/base/task.jl
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ julia> istaskdone(b)
 true
 ```
 """
-istaskdone(t::Task) = ((t.state == :done) | istaskfailed(t))
+istaskdone(t::Task) = ((t.state === :done) | istaskfailed(t))
 
 """
     istaskstarted(t::Task) -> Bool
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ julia> istaskfailed(b)
 true
 ```
 """
-istaskfailed(t::Task) = (t.state == :failed)
+istaskfailed(t::Task) = (t.state === :failed)
 
 Threads.threadid(t::Task) = Int(ccall(:jl_get_task_tid, Int16, (Any,), t)+1)
 
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ function task_done_hook(t::Task)
 
     if err && !handled && Threads.threadid() == 1
         if isa(result, InterruptException) && isdefined(Base, :active_repl_backend) &&
-            active_repl_backend.backend_task.state == :runnable && isempty(Workqueue) &&
+            active_repl_backend.backend_task.state === :runnable && isempty(Workqueue) &&
             active_repl_backend.in_eval
             throwto(active_repl_backend.backend_task, result) # this terminates the task
         end
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ function task_done_hook(t::Task)
         # issue #19467
         if Threads.threadid() == 1 &&
             isa(e, InterruptException) && isdefined(Base, :active_repl_backend) &&
-            active_repl_backend.backend_task.state == :runnable && isempty(Workqueue) &&
+            active_repl_backend.backend_task.state === :runnable && isempty(Workqueue) &&
             active_repl_backend.in_eval
             throwto(active_repl_backend.backend_task, e)
         else
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ function __preinit_threads__()
 end
 
 function enq_work(t::Task)
-    (t.state == :runnable && t.queue === nothing) || error("schedule: Task not runnable")
+    (t.state === :runnable && t.queue === nothing) || error("schedule: Task not runnable")
     tid = Threads.threadid(t)
     # Note there are three reasons a Task might be put into a sticky queue
     # even if t.sticky == false:
@@ -542,13 +542,13 @@ true
 """
 function schedule(t::Task, @nospecialize(arg); error=false)
     # schedule a task to be (re)started with the given value or exception
-    t.state == :runnable || Base.error("schedule: Task not runnable")
+    t.state === :runnable || Base.error("schedule: Task not runnable")
     if error
         t.queue === nothing || Base.list_deletefirst!(t.queue, t)
-        t.exception = arg
+        setfield!(t, :exception, arg)
     else
         t.queue === nothing || Base.error("schedule: Task not runnable")
-        t.result = arg
+        setfield!(t, :result, arg)
     end
     enq_work(t)
     return t
@@ -624,7 +624,7 @@ end
 function ensure_rescheduled(othertask::Task)
     ct = current_task()
     W = Workqueues[Threads.threadid()]
-    if ct !== othertask && othertask.state == :runnable
+    if ct !== othertask && othertask.state === :runnable
         # we failed to yield to othertask
         # return it to the head of a queue to be retried later
         tid = Threads.threadid(othertask)
diff --git a/base/util.jl b/base/util.jl
index 1688d5ef62b74..569991c2b936d 100644
--- a/base/util.jl
+++ b/base/util.jl
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ end
 
 ## printing with color ##
 
-const text_colors = AnyDict(
+const text_colors = Dict{Union{Symbol,Int},String}(
     :black         => "\033[30m",
     :red           => "\033[31m",
     :green         => "\033[32m",
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ for i in 0:255
     text_colors[i] = "\033[38;5;$(i)m"
 end
 
-const disable_text_style = AnyDict(
+const disable_text_style = Dict{Symbol,String}(
     :bold      => "\033[22m",
     :underline => "\033[24m",
     :blink     => "\033[25m",
diff --git a/stdlib/Distributed/src/Distributed.jl b/stdlib/Distributed/src/Distributed.jl
index 08fa8d504bf9e..dbeaf6282f920 100644
--- a/stdlib/Distributed/src/Distributed.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Distributed/src/Distributed.jl
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import Base: getindex, wait, put!, take!, fetch, isready, push!, length,
              hash, ==, kill, close, isopen, showerror
 
 # imports for use
-using Base: Process, Semaphore, JLOptions, AnyDict, buffer_writes, @sync_add,
+using Base: Process, Semaphore, JLOptions, buffer_writes, @sync_add,
             VERSION_STRING, binding_module, atexit, julia_exename,
             julia_cmd, AsyncGenerator, acquire, release, invokelatest,
             shell_escape_posixly, uv_error, something, notnothing, isbuffered
diff --git a/stdlib/Distributed/src/cluster.jl b/stdlib/Distributed/src/cluster.jl
index 47b2fc2f3a082..b7330f1cd89f6 100644
--- a/stdlib/Distributed/src/cluster.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Distributed/src/cluster.jl
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@ function addprocs(manager::ClusterManager; kwargs...)
 end
 
 function addprocs_locked(manager::ClusterManager; kwargs...)
-    params = merge(default_addprocs_params(), AnyDict(kwargs))
+    params = merge(default_addprocs_params(), Dict{Symbol,Any}(kwargs))
     topology(Symbol(params[:topology]))
 
     if PGRP.topology != :all_to_all
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ function set_valid_processes(plist::Array{Int})
     end
 end
 
-default_addprocs_params() = AnyDict(
+default_addprocs_params() = Dict{Symbol,Any}(
     :topology => :all_to_all,
     :dir      => pwd(),
     :exename  => joinpath(Sys.BINDIR, julia_exename()),
diff --git a/stdlib/Distributed/src/remotecall.jl b/stdlib/Distributed/src/remotecall.jl
index 4fe2e1c26d199..0c8246d2bc5a7 100644
--- a/stdlib/Distributed/src/remotecall.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Distributed/src/remotecall.jl
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # This file is a part of Julia. License is MIT: https://julialang.org/license
 
+abstract type AbstractRemoteRef end
+
 """
     client_refs
 
@@ -8,9 +10,7 @@ Tracks whether a particular `AbstractRemoteRef`
 
 The `client_refs` lock is also used to synchronize access to `.refs` and associated `clientset` state.
 """
-const client_refs = WeakKeyDict{Any, Nothing}() # used as a WeakKeySet
-
-abstract type AbstractRemoteRef end
+const client_refs = WeakKeyDict{AbstractRemoteRef, Nothing}() # used as a WeakKeySet
 
 """
     Future(w::Int, rrid::RRID, v::Union{Some, Nothing}=nothing)