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

Tulsa Zoo was overcrowded with just three elephants in 2022, but adding Billy and Tina will make seven elephants jammed into an enclosure less than one percent the size of their natural range. —Bailey Richards, People.com, 21 May 2025

Smalls was killed after leaving through a rear entrance of an overcrowded awards afterparty that was also attended by Combs. —Sasha Pezenik, ABC News, 20 May 2025

And while Windstar still goes to some of the Mediterranean’s overcrowded cruise ports, the company is promoting offseason travel as a way to experience those destinations without the masses. —Laura Itzkowitz, AFAR Media, 20 May 2025

The increasing population and animal-welfare crisis means that rescue centers and shelters are overcrowded and don't have the means to care for every animal in need. —Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 May 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