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

When demand surged, manufacturing slowed, and shipping routes became congested due to the pandemic; the once highly efficient systems started to break down. — Lyssanoel Frater, USA Today, 8 July 2026

After conducting a 30-minute test drive in the outskirts of the capital last year, Turing has replicated the experiment in multiple, more congested areas across the country. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 8 July 2026

Sri Lankan prisons are highly congested, with more than 39,000 inmates crowded into a system with a total capacity of just 10,000. — ABC News, 7 July 2026

The Illinois Tollway plans to reduce backups at the congested nexus by adding lanes to northbound and southbound I-355 in the Downers Grove area as well as ramp improvements. — Marni Pike, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 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