overcrowded

1 of 2

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

overcrowded

2 of 2

past tense and past participle of overcrowd

Examples of overcrowded in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The government of Turks and Caicos has intercepted another overcrowded boat from Haiti attempting to drop off migrants. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026

The harbor itself is overcrowded, built for fewer than 600 boats and now estimated to be serving over 1,000. — Kamala Thiagarajan, NPR, 20 Sep. 2026

Animals were confined in overcrowded cages, covered in feces and suffered starvation, dehydration, open wounds and untreated medical conditions, Hochman said. — Sandra McDonald, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026

The options are the latest result of the Student Assignment Project, DeKalb’s effort to deal with overcrowded and underused schools. — Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 17 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

from past participle of overcrowd

First Known Use

Adjective

1725, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for overcrowded

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