overcast
Americanadjective
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overspread or covered with clouds; cloudy.
an overcast day.
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Meteorology. (of the sky) more than 95 percent covered by clouds.
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dark; gloomy.
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Sewing. sewn by overcasting.
verb (used with object)
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to overcloud, darken, or make gloomy.
Ominous clouds began to overcast the sky.
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to sew with stitches passing successively over an edge, especially long stitches set at intervals to prevent raveling.
verb (used without object)
noun
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Meteorology. the condition of the sky when more than 95 percent covered by clouds.
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Mining. a crossing of two passages, as airways, dug at the same level, in which one rises to pass over the other without opening into it.
adjective
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covered over or obscured, esp by clouds
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meteorol (of the sky) more than 95 per cent cloud-covered
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gloomy or melancholy
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sewn over by overcasting
verb
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to make or become overclouded or gloomy
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to sew (an edge, as of a hem) with long stitches passing successively over the edge
noun
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a covering, as of clouds or mist
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meteorol the state of the sky when more than 95 per cent of it is cloud-covered
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mining a crossing of two passages without an intersection
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overcastsimple
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overcastssimple
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have overcastperfect
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has overcastperfect
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am overcastingprogressive
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are overcastingprogressive
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is overcastingprogressive
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have been overcastingperfect progressive
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has been overcastingperfect progressive
Past
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overcastsimple
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had overcastperfect
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was overcastingprogressive
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were overcastingprogressive
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had been overcastingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overcast
Explanation
Use the adjective overcast when you're describing a cloudy sky. An overcast day can be dark, cold, and gloomy, or just quiet and calm. A day that's gray and cloudy is overcast, and a dull, sunless sky can also be described this way. A less common way to use overcast is when you talk about sewing — an overcast stitch catches the edge of the fabric to keep it from fraying — and the stitch itself is sometimes called an overcast. Before the weather-related adjective was coined, overcast was a verb meaning "to cover" or "to overthrow."
Vocabulary lists containing overcast
"Marriage is a Private Affair" by Chinua Achebe
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4.1: Causes and Consequences of Iberian Maritime Exploration and Colonialism (Sources 1–12)
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Lights Out: Synonyms for "Dark"
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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.
On overcast days, when the sun was hidden, pigeons that lacked the macrophages lost their sense of direction and had difficulty navigating home.
From Science Daily • May 31, 2026
Sander does not romanticize, valorize or flatter them: The even lighting comes from an overcast sky; they are dressed in dark suits and hats, one smokes a cigarette, and each sports a cane.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026
On Sunday afternoon, most of England was dry, but overcast, following some rain across the north of the country during the morning.
From BBC • May 3, 2026
Early Saturday, an overcast Islamabad felt like a ghost town, with almost no civilian traffic on its wide avenues.
From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026
The sky is overcast, so there are no stars.
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
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.
