Meanings
- informalnot comparablesimileDensely packed; tightly squeezed together; crammed.
I'm pretty claustrophobic, so I didn't wanna hop in the elevator with them all packed like sardines in there.
2 more examples
We're already packed in like sardines But we're stopping to pick up more, look out
1981, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “Another One Rides the Bus”, in Another One Rides the BusPassengers are no longer "willing to be packed into trains like sardines", says London TravelWatch.
2022 March 23, “Network News: Passengers Unwilling to be ‘Packed Like Sardines’”, in Rail, number 953, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 22Synonyms: cheek to jowl
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveDensely packed; tightly squeezed together; crammed.
Origin
Referring to sardines packed closely together in a tin (or can).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish kuin sillit suolassa
- kuin sillit suolassadensely packed
French comme des sardines, comme des harengs en caque
- comme des sardinesdensely packed
- comme des harengs en caquedensely packed
- comme harengs en caquedensely packed
German dicht gedrängt wie die Sardinen, wie die Ölsardinen
- dicht gedrängt wie die Sardinendensely packed
- wie die Ölsardinendensely packed
Polish jak śledzie w beczce
- jak śledzie w beczcedensely packed
Portuguese apinhado
- apinhadodensely packed
Romanian înghesuit ca sardinele
- înghesuit ca sardineledensely packed
Russian как се́льди в бо́чке
- как се́льди в бо́чке (kak sélʹdi v bóčke)densely packed
Spanish apretados como sardinas, apretadas como sardinas
- apretados como sardinasdensely packed
- apretadas como sardinasdensely packed
- como sardinas en latadensely packed
Swedish som packade sardiner, som packade sillar
- som packade sardinerdensely packed
- som packade sillardensely packed
Vietnamese chật cứng
- chật cứngdensely packed
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with packed like sardines
Cite this entry
packed like sardines. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/packed%20like%20sardines
“packed like sardines.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/packed%20like%20sardines. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “packed like sardines,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/packed%20like%20sardines.
Source: packed like sardines on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.