congested

adjective

con·​gest·​ed kən-ˈje-stəd 

1

: extremely or excessively full or crowded

… it must be clear that the continuance is not being granted solely because of the court's congested calendar.

—The National Law Journal

Under the pressure of the weather conditions, congested traffic and wind shear, the crew never was able to stabilize the airplane on the ILS approach into JFK and had to execute a missed approach.

—Patrick R. Veillette

2

medical : containing an excessive accumulation especially of blood or mucus

congested lungs/sinuses

Examples of congested in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Reservations help keep trails from becoming congested, and prevent pristine environments from being loved to death. —Madison Chapman, Outside, 25 Mar. 2026

This shows how the Brentford defence was so congested and organised, how Leeds players often felt potshots were their best option, and how a touch more composure or vision could have exploited an avenue like Bogle in this example. —Beren Cross, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026

Much of her unpopularity is rooted in the traffic management policies of her Paris Réspire (Paris Breathes) campaign, with complaints that pushing vehicles from the center has merely made other roads more congested. —Lisa Courbebaisse, CNN Money, 21 Mar. 2026

Regulators at the Federal Aviation Administration are tightening safety rules in congested airspace around major airports, suspending the use of visual separation between helicopters and planes, the agency said on Wednesday. —Joel Rose, NPR, 18 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1830, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for congested

• arrested
• attested
• contested
• detested
• digested
• divested
• infested
• ingested
• invested
• molested
• pretested
• protested

Medical Definition

congested

adjective

con·​gest·​ed kən-ˈjes-təd 

: containing an excessive accumulation especially of blood or mucus

congested mucous membranes

congested lungs