overcast

/ˈoʊvərˌkæst/

Other forms: overcasting; overcasts; overcasted

Use the adjective overcast when you're describing a cloudy sky. An overcast day can be dark, cold, and gloomy, or just quiet and calm.

A day that's gray and cloudy is overcast, and a dull, sunless sky can also be described this way. A less common way to use overcast is when you talk about sewing — an overcast stitch catches the edge of the fabric to keep it from fraying — and the stitch itself is sometimes called an overcast. Before the weather-related adjective was coined, overcast was a verb meaning "to cover" or "to overthrow."

Definitions of overcast

1. adjective

   filled or abounding with clouds
   synonyms: cloud-covered, clouded, sunless

   cloudy

   full of or covered with clouds
2. noun

   the state of the sky when it is covered by clouds
   synonyms: cloud cover, cloudiness

   type of:

   bad weather, inclemency, inclementness

   weather unsuitable for outdoor activities
3. noun

   gloomy semidarkness caused by cloud cover
   synonyms: cloudiness

   type of:

   semidarkness

   partial darkness
4. verb

   make overcast or cloudy
   “Fall weather often overcasts our beaches”

   synonyms: cloud

   antonyms:

   clear up

   become clear

   types:

   fog up

   get foggy

   haze

   become hazy, dull, or cloudy

   type of:

   darken

   make dark or darker
5. noun

   a long whipstitch or overhand stitch overlying an edge to prevent raveling
   synonyms: overcasting

   type of:

   whipping, whipstitch, whipstitching

   a sewing stitch passing over an edge diagonally
6. noun

   a cast that falls beyond the intended spot
   type of:

   cast, casting

   the act of throwing a fishing line out over the water by means of a rod and reel
7. verb

   sew over the edge of with long slanting wide stitches
   types:

   oversew

   sew (two edges) with close stitches that pass over them both

   type of:

   run up, sew, sew together, stitch

   fasten by sewing; do needlework
8. verb

   sew with an overcast stitch from one section to the next
   “overcast books”

   type of:

   run up, sew, sew together, stitch

   fasten by sewing; do needlework