Meaning & use
overstocked
Last updated
“overstocked” is a form of “overstock”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivecomparablebusiness
Holding more goods than can be sold, stored or used in a reasonable time.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: an overstocked warehouse, or the shop is overstocked.
Patterns
- overstocked with something
The store was overstocked with winter coats in April.
An overstocked warehouse costs money in rent and waste.
Overstocked items were sold at half price.
verbtransitive
Past tense and past participle of overstock: bought or kept more goods or animals than were needed or could be supported.
Grammar: Takes an object: the retailer overstocked the shelves.
Patterns
- overstock something with something
The manager overstocked the shelves before the holiday sale.
The farmer overstocked the pond with fish, and many died.
We overstocked on batteries after the storm warning.
Word forms
| base form | overstock |
|---|---|
| third person singular | overstocks |
| present participle | overstocking |
Common combinations
- overstocked warehouse
- The overstocked warehouse had no room for new deliveries.
- overstocked with
- The shop is overstocked with unsold calendars.
- become overstocked
- Bakeries can become overstocked on weekday mornings.
- overstocked inventory
- The company wrote off its overstocked inventory.
- heavily overstocked
- The market is heavily overstocked with cheap phones.
Synonyms and how they differ
- oversupplied
- Oversupplied describes a whole market having too much, while overstocked usually describes one store or warehouse.
- glutted
- Glutted is stronger and suggests the market is flooded, not just a single shop having extra.
- overloaded
- Overloaded suggests too heavy a burden, and is not specific to goods held for sale.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: overstocked or overbooked?
overstocked vs overbooked
Overbooked means more reservations were accepted than can be served, not too many goods.
Practice
The shop had too many unsold winter coats, so it was ___.
Choose one answer.
Overstocked means holding too many goods. Understocked is the opposite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “overstocked”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.