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.
See Examples For:
It was a cool, overcast day and as the wind rustled the tree leaves, a baby coyote raced across the lawn in the distance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
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
Friday night also might end up quite overcast for many but those patient enough to wait until Saturday night will have the best viewing chances.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 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
We set out for the audition on an overcast January morning heavy with the threat of snow.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Three months earlier, Blankenship had told mine superintendents to "ignore" requests to build overcasts -- devices that are important for ventilating deadly gases from mines.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2010
Old flying boats venture out and up through pea-soup overcasts, often to rescue flyers from a sea so cold that few men have survived after floating in it for more than 30 minutes.
From Time Magazine Archive
And should the river of our happy laughter Flow 'neath a sky no cloud yet overcasts, We will not fear the shadows coming after, But make the most of sunshine while it lasts.
From Yule-Tide in Many Lands by Bridgman, L. J. (Lewis Jesse)
Suddenly it drives down before it a storm which overcasts the blue sky, so that it is pitch dark in the valley.
From Timar's Two Worlds by Jókai, Mór
Why that ominous redness which overcasts the heavens?
From The Second Deluge by Serviss, Garrett Putman
John Goodman can do the oaky solidity, but perhaps might be overcasting.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 29, 2012
This method takes the place of serging or overcasting and is much better for thin ravelly goods.
From The Copeland Method A Complete Manual for Cleaning, Repairing, Altering and Pressing All Kinds of Garments for Men and Women, at Home or for Busines by Copeland, Vanness
This overcasting is done by inserting a fine needle near the back of the knocked-up sheets from above and drawing the thread almost quite through, the second and following stitches all being made from above.
From Practical Bookbinding by Adam, Paul
Trim off edges and finish with binding or close overcasting.
From Textiles and Clothing by Watson, Kate Heintz
In overcasting, as in old-fashioned whipstitching, the sewer selects a certain number of sheets for sewing.
From Library Bookbinding by Bailey, Arthur Low
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.
