Meanings
comparative more overweight · superlative most overweight
- 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.
- lawWeighing more than what is allowed for safety or legal commerce.
He got as far as the first weigh station, where troopers found his truck to be overweight and threatened to pull him off the road.
1993, Legacy in the Sand: Chemical Command in Operations Desert Shield & Desert Storm, →ISBN, page 743 more examples
All States allow oversized vehicles if a special permit is obtained, although most States will grant overweight permits only for non-divisible loads.
1988, U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Gearing Up for Safety: Motor Carrier Safety in a Competitive Environment, →ISBN, page 38The records did not reveal any previous encounters with severe turbulence. The three major alterations/repairs involving the wing were either far outboard of the strut wing station, or were performed on the right wing. Two overweight landings had been recorded since the aircraft was put into service with Evergreen. In both cases, an inspection of the airplane was accomplished in accordance with the Boeing Maintenance Manual.
1993 October 13, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.17.1 Maintenance Records”, in Aircraft Accident Report: In-Flight Engine Separation, Japan Airlines, Inc., Flight 46E, Boeing 747-121, N473EV, Anchorage, Alaska, March 31, 1993, archived from the original on 17 Jun 2022, page 26Postaccident examination of the vehicle indicated, for example, that the driver had not adequately maintained his logbook and that his vehicle had been overweight for travel in Indiana.
1999 July 26, National Transportation Safety Board, “Operator Actions”, in Railroad Accident Report: Collision of Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District Train 102 With a Tractor-Trailer, Portage, Indiana, June 18, 1998, →ISBN, archived from the original on 17 Jun 2022, page 48Synonyms: fat, morbidly obese, obese, overnourished
- businessHaving a portfolio relatively heavily invested in.
Our portfolio is very overweight (in) Asian technology stocks.
plural overweights
- uncountablelawAn excess of weight.
It is clear that a bird would certainly be grounded by overweight if it retained eggs in the body and discharged them in large numbers at one time, like a turtle[.]
1985, J.D. McDonald, Australian Birds: A Popular Guide to Bird Life, Sydney: Reed Books, page 661 more example
[…] 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; […]
1976, Acts of the Legislature, volume 1, Louisiana, page 445 - uncountablegovernmentThe condition of being overweight.
SCHOOL MEAL ISSUES FOR CHILDREN AT RISK FOR OVERWEIGHT
2007, Josephine Martin, Charlotte Oakley, Managing child nutrition programs: leadership for excellence, page 462 - countableAn overweight person.
Subjects were grouped as Group 1 and Group 2 according to VAI, and normals, overweights and obeses according to BMI.
2014, Ahmet Celik, Edibe Saricicek, Vahap Saricicek, Elif Sahin, Gokhan Ozdemir, Metin Kilinc, Ayten Oguz, Relation between the new anthropometric obesity parameters and inflammatory markers in healthy adult men, SCIRJ2 more examples
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.
1951, Louis Israel Dublin, Mortality Among Insured Overweights in Recent Years, Association of Life Insurance Medical Directors of America, →OCLC, page 28Singh found that the normal weight figures were judged more attractive than the underweights‚ who were more attractive than the overweights.
1998, Adrian Furnham, Melanie Dias, Alastair McClelland, “The role of body weight, waist-to-hip ratio, and breast size in judgments of female attractiveness”, in Sex roles, volume 39, number 3, Springer, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 311–326 - countablebusinessA security or class of securities in which one has a heavy concentration.
Apple common stock is one of our overweights.
present singular third person overweights · participle present overweighting · participle past overweighted · past overweighted
- transitiveTo weigh down: to put too heavy a burden on.
Throughout the country there were: rupture of telecommunications, resulting amongst other things from telegraph wires and posts overweighted by snow or struck down by gales; [...].
1962 March, “The New Year Freeze-up on British Railways”, in Modern Railways, page 1582 more examples
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.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLCBy noon the fat, perspiring, and importantly busy merchant arrives, overweighted with red blood, fat, and responsibility, for a game of manille or dominoes with three or four old cronies.
1916, F[rank] Berkeley Smith, Babette: A Novel, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, page 240 - transitiveTo place excessive weight or emphasis on; to overestimate the importance of.First known use 17th c.
We also over-weight such vaine future conjectures, which infant-spirits give us.
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 8, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC1 more example
Kinnel explained it, the problem at Select High Income was that it overweighted mortgage bonds and underweighted other types of corporate debt, a strategy that backfired when the mortgage market collapsed.
2009 January 11, Geraldine Fabrikant, “How Safe Is That Nest Egg, Anyhow?”, in New York Times
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveWeighing more than what is allowed for safety or legal commerce.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveusually describes a large person who is fat but has a large frame to carry it
nounthe property of excessive fatness
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*úp
- Proto-Indo-European*upér
- Proto-Germanic*uber
- Old Englishofer-
- Middle Englishover-
- Englishover-
- Englishweight
- Englishoverweight
Translations
Bulgarian претоварен, свръхтегло
- претоварен (pretovaren)of a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- свръхтегло (svrăhteglo)excess of weight
Chinese Mandarin 超重, 超重
- 超重 (chāozhòng)of a person, heavier than is healthy
- 超重 (chāozhòng)of a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- 超載 /超载 (chāozài)of a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- 超重 (chāozhòng)excess of weight
- 超載 /超载 (chāozài)excess of weight
Danish overvægtig, overlæsset
- overvægtigof a person, heavier than is healthy
- overlæssetof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- overvægtexcess of weight
- overlæsexcess of weight
Dutch te zwaar, te zwaar
- te zwaarof a person, heavier than is healthy
- te zwaarof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- overgewichtexcess of weight
Esperanto superpeza
- superpezaof a person, heavier than is healthy
Finnish ylipainoinen, ylipainoinen
- ylipainoinenof a person, heavier than is healthy
- ylipainoinenof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- ylipainoexcess of weight
French en surpoids
- en surpoidsof a person, heavier than is healthy
German übergewichtig, überladen
- übergewichtigof a person, heavier than is healthy
- überladenof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- Übergewichtexcess of weight
Greek υπέρβαρος, υπέρβαρος
- υπέρβαρος (ypérvaros)of a person, heavier than is healthy
- υπέρβαρος (ypérvaros)of a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
Hebrew בעל משקל עודף, שמן
- בעל משקל עודף (báal mishkál odéf)of a person, heavier than is healthy
- שמן (shamén)of a person, heavier than is healthy
- משקל עודף (mishkál odéf)excess of weight
Hungarian túlsúlyos, súlytöbblet
- túlsúlyosof a person, heavier than is healthy
- súlytöbbletexcess of weight
- többletsúlyexcess of weight
- túlsúlyexcess of weight
Irish róthrom, róthrom
- róthromof a person, heavier than is healthy
- róthromof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
Italian in sovrappeso, sovrappeso
- in sovrappesoof a person, heavier than is healthy
- sovrappesoof a person, heavier than is healthy
Japanese メタボな
- メタボな (metabo na)of a person, heavier than is healthy
Malay gemuk tambun
- gemuk tambunof a person, heavier than is healthy
Māori katete, tōpāparu
- kateteof a person, heavier than is healthy
- tōpāparuof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
Norwegian Bokmål overvektig, overvekt
- overvektigof a person, heavier than is healthy
- overvektexcess of weight
Persian اضافهوزن
- اضافهوزن (ezâfe-vazn)excess of weight
Polish z nadwagą, mający nadwagę
- z nadwagąof a person, heavier than is healthy
- mający nadwagęof a person, heavier than is healthy
- przeciążonyof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- nadwagaexcess of weight
Portuguese com excesso de peso, com sobrepeso
- com excesso de pesoof a person, heavier than is healthy
- com sobrepesoof a person, heavier than is healthy
- sobrecarregadoof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- sobrepesoexcess of weight
Russian гру́зный, ту́чный
- гру́зный (grúznyj)of a person, heavier than is healthy
- ту́чный (túčnyj)of a person, heavier than is healthy
- страда́ющий ожире́нием (stradájuščij ožirénijem)of a person, heavier than is healthy
- перегру́женный (peregrúžennyj)of a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
Spanish con sobrepeso, tener sobrepeso
- con sobrepesoof a person, heavier than is healthy
- tener sobrepesoof a person, heavier than is healthy
- con exceso de pesoof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- con pesantez excesivaof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- con demasiada pesaduraof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- tener exceso de pesadezof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- tener pesadumbre excesivaof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- tener demasiado pesorof a vehicle, weighing more than is allowed
- sobrepesoexcess of weight
- exceso de pesantezexcess of weight
- pesadura excesivaexcess of weight
- demasiado pesorexcess of weight
Swahili uzito uliozidi
- uzito uliozidiexcess of weight
Swedish överviktig, tjock
- överviktigof a person, heavier than is healthy
- tjockof a person, heavier than is healthy
- överviktexcess of weight
Welsh dros ei bwysau
- dros ei bwysauof a person, heavier than is healthy
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with overweight
Cite this entry
overweight. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overweight
“overweight.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overweight. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overweight,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overweight.
Source: overweight on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.