congested
Britishadjective
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crowded to excess; overfull
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(of an organ or part) loaded or clogged with blood
-
(of the nose) blocked with mucus
Explanation
If you are having trouble breathing, you keep sneezing, and your head feels like it might explode, you may very well be congested. In other words, fluid may have built up in your sinuses and your lungs. Being congested is a typical but very unpleasant symptom of the common cold. This adjective literally means “clogged,” “overcrowded,” or “overfull.” Congested is also used to describe arteries that are clogged, cities that are overpopulated, and roads that are full of traffic.
Vocabulary lists containing congested
Vocabulary from texts about Colin Powell
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A driver on California's notoriously congested highways put a life-sized dummy in the passenger seat to trick his way into the faster carpool lane, only to get caught for forgetting one detail -- the face.
From Barron's • May 13, 2026
Five points separate Price and sixth-placed Gian van Veen so certain results next week could see a congested field and two play-off spots up for grabs in Sheffield on 21 May.
From BBC • May 7, 2026
Stagecoach doesn’t have as many people as Coachella, so the traffic usually isn’t as bad, but Monday can get congested as people head home from the desert.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
But military analysts say clearing them is a necessary condition for ships to be able to sail again through the middle of the strategic waterway rather than the slower and more congested Iranian routes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026
The streets had become so congested that the city issued an emergency decree to suspend the trolley service until after the parade because there was no room for the passengers to disembark downtown.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
