What does "overweight" mean?
An excess of weight.
Overweight
/ˌoʊvɚˈweɪt/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An excess of weight.
- Grammar: overweight is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: heavy, adipose, adiposis, ample.
- Useful contrasts: scrawny, slender, strapping.
- Usage evidence: What with having no exercise and being overweight, he had a heart attack.
How to use "overweight"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "overweight" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "overweight" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "overweight" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "overweight" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "overweight" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "heavy" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "overweight", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An excess of weight. uncountable
"[…] and shall pay not only the amount of the permit fee for overlength, overheight, overwidth or overweight as might be due, but an additional civil penalty of fifty dollars for the first offense, one hundred dollars for the second offense and one hundred fifty dollars for each additional offense; […]"
- 2 the property of excessive fatness wordnet
- 3 The condition of being overweight. uncountable
"SCHOOL MEAL ISSUES FOR CHILDREN AT RISK FOR OVERWEIGHT"
- 4 An overweight person. countable
"The study provides up-to-date facts on the variety of diseases, vascular, metabolic, hepatic, and other, which are responsible for the excess mortality of overweights."
- 5 A security or class of securities in which one has a heavy concentration. countable
"Apple common stock is one of our overweights."
Verb
- 1 To weigh down: to put too heavy a burden on. transitive
"Such things are not for us to know. Knowledge is to the strong, and we are weak. Too much wisdom would perchance blind our imperfect sight, and too much strength would make us drunk, and over-weight our feeble reason till it fell and we were drowned in the depths of our own vanity."
- 2 To place excessive weight or emphasis on; to overestimate the importance of. transitive
"We also over-weight such vaine future conjectures, which infant-spirits give us."
Adjective
- 1 Having a higher weight, especially body fat, than what is generally considered healthy for a given body type and height.
"Before her diet, Jane was noticeably overweight, but she shed five kilos in the next two months."
- 2 Weighing more than what is allowed for safety or legal commerce.
"All States allow oversized vehicles if a special permit is obtained, although most States will grant overweight permits only for non-divisible loads."
- 3 Having a portfolio relatively heavily invested in.
"Our portfolio is very overweight (in) Asian technology stocks."
Adjective
- 1 usually describes a large person who is fat but has a large frame to carry it wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"What with having no exercise and being overweight, he had a heart attack."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "overweight"?
Common synonyms include: heavy, adipose, adiposis, ample, avoirdupois, bear hard upon.
How do you use "overweight" in a sentence?
What with having no exercise and being overweight, he had a heart attack.
How do you pronounce "overweight"?
Pronounced /ˌoʊvɚˈweɪt/.
Etymology
From over- + weight.