Congested

How to spell congested

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce congested

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does congested mean?

1. adjectiveSo overcrowded or full that movement through it is slow or blocked, as with traffic or people.
2. adjectiveBlocked or filled with excess fluid or mucus, especially in the nose, sinuses, or lungs.

Congested in a sentence

• The motorway was badly congested during the evening commute.

• Her sinuses felt congested for days after the cold set in.

• The city centre becomes hopelessly congested on market days.

• The doctor noted that the patient's chest sounded congested.

Where does congested come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb congerere, meaning 'to heap up' or 'to bring together', formed from con- 'together' and gerere 'to carry or bring'. Its past participle, congestus, gave English the literal idea of things piled or crowded into one place. The word entered English in the late 1300s, at first in a medical sense describing an abnormal accumulation of blood or fluid in part of the body, which is why we still speak of congested sinuses or lungs. From there the meaning broadened to anything overcrowded or blocked, and by the nineteenth century it was firmly attached to clogged streets and choked traffic. The same gerere root sits inside relatives like 'digest', 'gesture', and 'register', all of which involve carrying or bringing something along, and remembering that hidden 'gest' helps fix the spelling.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• gest (carry, from Latin gerere 'to bring')
• -ed (adjective/past participle suffix)