Word
overgrown
Phoneticsover·grown
US/ˌoʊvɝˈɡɹoʊn/
UK/ˌəʊvəɡɹˈəʊn/
Definition
adj. covered with too many plants or weeds because nobody has looked after it. You use this to describe a garden or building that looks wild and messy.
adj. covered with plants or weeds that have grown in an uncontrolled way. Often used to describe neglected land or structures; functions as a participial adjective.
Examples
“The old garden is completely overgrown with weeds.”
“The path to the abandoned cottage was so overgrown that we had to push through thick bushes to reach the door.”
“Decades of neglect had left the estate's formal gardens entirely overgrown, with ivy strangling the stone statues and wild grass obscuring the original gravel walkways.”
Examples
simple
“The old garden is completely overgrown with weeds.”
contextual
“The path to the abandoned cottage was so overgrown that we had to push through thick bushes to reach the door.”
complex
“Decades of neglect had left the estate's formal gardens entirely overgrown, with ivy strangling the stone statues and wild grass obscuring the original gravel walkways.”
Usage
Typically used as a predicative adjective after 'is' or 'has become', or as an attributive adjective before a noun.
Real-World Examples
“His protests are surely the actions of an overgrown schoolboy, a man who knows nothing of responsibility, who is simply not realistic.” “The most overgrown of all, what was once Camp 4, we reached by gunning the ATV off-track through the undergrowth.” Etymology
From over- + grown.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B2 FirstIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.5.5–6.5TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 4.0–4.572–94TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.785–944
- Frequency
- Occasional
- Level
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Updated
- アルファベット
- 読み方の一覧 →
QR code
englishreference.com/q/overgrown