overcrowded

adjective

over·​crowd·​ed ˌō-vər-ˈkrau̇-dəd 

: crowded or filled to excess : having too many people or things

overcrowded streets/cities/classrooms

living in overcrowded conditions

… having an overcrowded space can make it hard for buyers to … visualize their own belongings in the space, said Los Angeles-based designer Francesca Grace.

—Jennifer Tzeses

… some 5 million workers commute for up to three hours on trains so overcrowded that there seem to be as many passengers hanging on to the outside of the carriages as there are inside.

—Ismail Merchant

Examples of overcrowded in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The city has five schools that opened about 25 years ago during a time when district-run schools in the city were overcrowded and underperforming, the mayor said. —Scott Travis, Sun Sentinel, 20 July 2025

During a recent tour, Rep. Maxwell Frost said detainees described unsanitary conditions, including overcrowded cages, limited access to clean water, and inadequate food. —Amanda Castro, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 July 2025

When food runs out or things get overcrowded in a location, winged females are born and fly off to other plants. —Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 12 July 2025

But in today's pressure-cooker environment, where deadlines dominate and resources are constrained, employee development can often feel like just another item on an already overcrowded to-do list. —Michael Hudson, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of overcrowd

First Known Use

1725, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for overcrowded

• clouded
• crowded
• shrouded
• enshrouded
• unclouded
• uncrowded