over·weight
ˈō-vər-ˌwāt 
sense 2 is usually
ˌō-vər-ˈwāt
1
: weight over and above what is required or allowed
2
: excessive or burdensome weight
over·weight
ˌō-vər-ˈwāt
overweighted; overweighting; overweights
over·weight
ˌō-vər-ˈwāt
: exceeding expected, normal, or proper weight
especially
: exceeding the bodily weight normal for one's age, height, and build
Examples of overweight in a Sentence
Adjective
He looked to be at least 20 pounds overweight.
an overweight person who had difficulty running even a short distance
Recent Examples on the Web
Natassia Paloma, USA Today, 4 June 2026
Morgan Stanley moved its rating to equal-weight from overweight, while Raymond James moved its outlook to outperform from strong buy.
—Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 3 June 2026
Michael Bloom, CNBC, 8 June 2026
This was also important for the return to Earth, because the agency didn’t want to overweight one side of the spacecraft with equipment and throw off the balance of the spacecraft during reentry and splashdown.
—New Atlas, 6 June 2026
Michael Bloom, CNBC, 4 June 2026
The study, which was published in the JCO Oncology Practice journal, looked at University of Pennsylvania Health System records from more than 111,000 women ages 45 to 80 over the last several years who were overweight or obese, to see who went on to develop breast cancer.
—ABC News, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for overweight
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
The city has the largest percentage of adults who are obese, at 45%, with an additional 31% overweight but not obese.
—Natassia Paloma, USA Today, 4 June 2026
Morgan Stanley moved its rating to equal-weight from overweight, while Raymond James moved its outlook to outperform from strong buy.
—Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 3 June 2026
Verb
Piper Sandler upgrades Teleflex to overweight from neutral Piper says the medtech company is undervalued.
—Michael Bloom, CNBC, 8 June 2026
This was also important for the return to Earth, because the agency didn’t want to overweight one side of the spacecraft with equipment and throw off the balance of the spacecraft during reentry and splashdown.
—New Atlas, 6 June 2026
Adjective
Morgan Stanley reiterates CrowdStrike as overweight Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the stock to $690 per share from $610.
—Michael Bloom, CNBC, 4 June 2026
The study, which was published in the JCO Oncology Practice journal, looked at University of Pennsylvania Health System records from more than 111,000 women ages 45 to 80 over the last several years who were overweight or obese, to see who went on to develop breast cancer.
—ABC News, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for overweight
Cite this Entry
“Overweight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overweight. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
overweight
1 of 2 noun
over·weight
ˈō-vər-ˌwāt
sense 2 is usually ˌō-vər-ˈwāt
1
: weight above what is required or allowed
2
: excessive or burdensome weight
overweight
2 of 2 adjective
over·weight
ˌō-vər-ˈwāt
: being more than the expected, normal, or proper weight
especially
: having greater than normal bodily weight for one's age, height, and build
Medical Definition
overweight
adjective
over·weight
-ˈwāt
: weighing in excess of the normal for one's age, height, and build
overweight adolescents
overweight adults typically have a body mass index of 25 to 29.9
overweight
noun
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
