overcast

American  

[oh-ver-kast, -kahst, oh-ver-kast, -kahst, oh-ver-kast, -kahst, oh-ver-kast, -kahst, oh-ver-kast, -kahst] / ˈoʊ vərˈkæst, -ˈkɑst, ˈoʊ vərˌkæst, -ˌkɑst, ˌoʊ vərˈkæst, -ˈkɑst, ˈoʊ vərˌkæst, -ˌkɑst, ˈoʊ vərˌkæst, -ˌkɑst /

adjective

1. overspread or covered with clouds; cloudy.

   an overcast day.

2. Meteorology. (of the sky) more than 95 percent covered by clouds.

3. dark; gloomy.

4. Sewing. sewn by overcasting.

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verb (used with object)

• overcasts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• overcast,
  past participle,  past
• overcasting
  present participle

1. to overcloud, darken, or make gloomy.

   Ominous clouds began to overcast the sky.

2. to sew with stitches passing successively over an edge, especially long stitches set at intervals to prevent raveling.

verb (used without object)

• overcasts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• overcast,
  past participle,  past
• overcasting
  present participle

1. to become cloudy or dark.

   By noon it had begun to overcast.

noun

1. Meteorology. the condition of the sky when more than 95 percent covered by clouds.

2. 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.

overcast British  

adjective

1. covered over or obscured, esp by clouds

2. meteorol (of the sky) more than 95 per cent cloud-covered

3. gloomy or melancholy

4. sewn over by overcasting

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verb

1. to make or become overclouded or gloomy

2. to sew (an edge, as of a hem) with long stitches passing successively over the edge

noun

1. a covering, as of clouds or mist

2. meteorol the state of the sky when more than 95 per cent of it is cloud-covered

3. mining a crossing of two passages without an intersection

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• overcasting
  present
• overcast
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• overcast
  simple
• overcasts
  simple
• have overcast
  perfect
• has overcast
  perfect
• am overcasting
  progressive
• are overcasting
  progressive
• is overcasting
  progressive
• have been overcasting
  perfect progressive
• has been overcasting
  perfect progressive

Past

• overcast
  simple
• had overcast
  perfect
• was overcasting
  progressive
• were overcasting
  progressive
• had been overcasting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will overcast
  simple
• will have overcast
  perfect
• will be overcasting
  progressive
• will have been overcasting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of overcast

1175–1225; Middle English (v.); see over-, cast

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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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

overcast overcasts overcasting

Skies are frequently overcast, and winters are cold, gray and gloomy.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

She first experienced severe sunburn on an overcast day in May 2025.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

It was overcast outside, but I knew the sun could break through at any moment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 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

The sky was overcast, but Emily was pink-faced and wiping sweat off her temples by the time they reached their building.

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

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

Why that ominous redness which overcasts the heavens?

From The Second Deluge by Garrett Putman Serviss

When we first called she had just passed her fourth birthday, and now overcasts from three to four pairs of pants every day.

From The Arena Volume 4, No. 19, June, 1891 by B. O. (Benjamin Orange) Flower

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 L. J. (Lewis Jesse) Bridgman

John Goodman can do the oaky solidity, but perhaps might be overcasting.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 29, 2012

In overcasting, as in old-fashioned whipstitching, the sewer selects a certain number of sheets for sewing.

From Library Bookbinding by Arthur Low Bailey

The entire pattern is carried out in this way, first laying down foundation threads in the necessary places and then covering them up with either overcasting or buttonhole stitch as required.

From Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving by Grace Christie

Diagonal lines of thread are first laid from edge to edge of the ground space, and these are sewn down by short overcasting stitches in the cross direction.

From Art in Needlework A Book about Embroidery by Mary Buckle

He does not know his own mind,” said Mr. May, his countenance overcasting.

From Phoebe, Junior by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

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Related Words

• dismal
• dreary
• dull
• hazy
• leaden
• murky

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