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PlainSpell

overcast

/ˈoʊvɚ.kæst/noun, adjective, verb

overcast is spelled O-V-E-R-C-A-S-T: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, overcast means “A cloud covering all of the sky from horizon to horizon” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of overcast is overcasts.

How many letters and syllables are in overcast?

Letters8: O-V-E-R-C-A-S-T
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.1 times per million words; the 27,150th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is overcast?

Overcast appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce overcast?

  • UK /ˈəʊvəˌkɑːst/
  • US /ˈoʊvɚ.kæst/

As a verb (“To overthrow”): /ˌəʊvəˈkɑːst/, /ˌoʊvɚˈkæst/.

Overcast has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-overcast.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-overcast_(verb).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of overcast

  • overcasts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • more overcast comparative
  • most overcast superlative
  • overcasting participle, present
  • overcasted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does overcast mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A cloud covering all of the sky from horizon to horizon.

  2. 2

    obsoleteAn outcast.

  3. 3

    A place where one roadway crosses another, specifically where an airway was built across the top of another airway for ventilation purposes.

adjective

  1. 1

    Covered with clouds; overshadowed; darkened; (meteorology) more than 90% covered by clouds.

  2. 2

    In a state of depression; gloomy; melancholy.

verb

  1. 1

    obsoleteTo overthrow.

  2. 2

    To cover with cloud; to overshadow; to darken.

  3. 3

    To make gloomy; to depress.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo be or become cloudy.

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo transform.

  6. 6

    To fasten (sheets) by overcast stitching or by folding one edge over another.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Overcast in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchnuageux, couvert (covered with clouds; overshadowed; darkened)
Germanbedeckt, bewölkt (covered with clouds; overshadowed; darkened)
Portuguesenublado (covered with clouds; overshadowed; darkened), encoberto (meteorological term), nublar (to cover with cloud; to overshadow; to darken)
Spanishnublado, nubloso, anubarrado, anubado, nublo, nuboso (covered with clouds; overshadowed; darkened)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does overcast come from?

From Middle English overcasten, equivalent to over- + cast. Compare Swedish överkast.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after overcast