overcast
Americanadjective
-
overspread or covered with clouds; cloudy.
an overcast day.
-
Meteorology. (of the sky) more than 95 percent covered by clouds.
-
dark; gloomy.
-
Sewing. sewn by overcasting.
verb (used with object)
-
to overcloud, darken, or make gloomy.
Ominous clouds began to overcast the sky.
-
to sew with stitches passing successively over an edge, especially long stitches set at intervals to prevent raveling.
verb (used without object)
noun
-
Meteorology. the condition of the sky when more than 95 percent covered by clouds.
-
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
-
covered over or obscured, esp by clouds
-
meteorol (of the sky) more than 95 per cent cloud-covered
-
gloomy or melancholy
-
sewn over by overcasting
verb
-
to make or become overclouded or gloomy
-
to sew (an edge, as of a hem) with long stitches passing successively over the edge
noun
-
a covering, as of clouds or mist
-
meteorol the state of the sky when more than 95 per cent of it is cloud-covered
-
mining a crossing of two passages without an intersection
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overcastsimple
-
overcastssimple
-
have overcastperfect
-
has overcastperfect
-
am overcastingprogressive
-
are overcastingprogressive
-
is overcastingprogressive
-
have been overcastingperfect progressive
-
has been overcastingperfect progressive
Past
-
overcastsimple
-
had overcastperfect
-
was overcastingprogressive
-
were overcastingprogressive
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
4.1: Causes and Consequences of Iberian Maritime Exploration and Colonialism (Sources 1–12)
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Lights Out: Synonyms for "Dark"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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
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 day had become even more lowering and overcast.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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
If it with anger overcasts the eye, And heaven's bright purity perversely blackens, Then zephyr-sighs straight scare the clouds away, And, changed to tears, dissolve them into rain.
From The Poems of Goethe Translated in the original metres by Bowring, Edgar Alfred
Bonaventure seemed scarce less tempest-tossed than he; and all about the school the distress spread as wintry gray overcasts a sky.
From Bonaventure A Prose Pastoral of Acadian Louisiana by Cable, George Washington
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)
John Goodman can do the oaky solidity, but perhaps might be overcasting.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 29, 2012
As soon as the overcasting is done, proceed with the button-holing without breaking the thread.
From Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Household Science in Rural Schools by Ontario. Ministry of Education
The object of the overcasting is to prevent raveling while working the buttonhole and the fewer stitches which will accomplish this purpose the better.
From Handicraft for Girls A Tentative Course in Needlework, Basketry, Designing, Paper and Cardboard Construction, Textile Fibers and Fabrics and Home Decoration and Care by McGlauflin, Idabelle
The crosses being put in at the same time as the overcasting of the bars renders some forethought necessary to get each in at just the right time and place.
From Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving by Christie, Grace
That is a detail, if the borders themselves are intact; and the edges only need overcasting before it is too late.
From The Oriental Rug A Monograph on Eastern Rugs and Carpets, Saddle-Bags, Mats & Pillows, with a Consideration of Kinds and Classes, Types, Borders, Figures, Dyes, Symbols, etc. Together with Some Practical Advice to Collectors. by Ellwanger, W. D. (William DeLancey)
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.
