overcast

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈoʊvɚkæst/ UK /ˈəʊvəkɑːst/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
covered with clouds; gloomy or darkened

The sky was overcast, threatening rain before the afternoon was out.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · covered with clouds; gloomy... cloudy gloomy gray dull murky leaden sunless

Opposites

clear sunny bright cloudless

Word family

Related forms castovercasting

Etymology

From Middle English overcasten, from over- ('over, across') plus cast (from Old Norse kasta, 'to throw'). Literally 'cast over,' hence covered as the sky is covered with cloud.

over Middle English kasta Old Norse

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# overcast

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈoʊvɚkæst/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈəʊvəkɑːst/

## Meanings
1. covered with clouds; gloomy or darkened

## Examples
- The sky was overcast, threatening rain before the afternoon was out.

## Synonyms
- cloudy
- gloomy
- gray
- dull
- murky
- leaden
- sunless

## Antonyms
- clear
- sunny
- bright
- cloudless

## Related Forms
- cast
- overcasting

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: over
- Root: kasta

## Etymology
From Middle English overcasten, from over- ('over, across') plus cast (from Old Norse kasta, 'to throw'). Literally 'cast over,' hence covered as the sky is covered with cloud.

## AI Etymology
Overcast is from Middle English overcasten, from over- ('over, across') plus cast (from Old Norse kasta, 'to throw'). Literally 'cast over,' hence covered as the sky is covered with cloud. Important recorded forms include over (Old English) and kasta (Old Norse). The modern sense follows that older lexical line closely. In current use it covers covered with clouds; gloomy or darkened. The wider family includes related words such as cast and overcasting.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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