Phrase guide

traffic jam

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A situation in which road traffic accumulates until it is stationary or very slow.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: road, transport

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: snarl-up, parking lot (US, figuratively, humorous

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: jam, jam-up

2

noun

Meaning 2

a number of vehicles blocking one another until they can scarcely move

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: snarl-up

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: crush, jam, press

Narrower terms: gridlock

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

144 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: mbingarkim — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Albanian: bllokim trafiku — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Arabic: اِزْدِحَام الْمُرُور (izdiḥām al-murūr) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Arabic: اِخْتِنَاق مُرُورِيّ (iḵtināq murūriyy) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Arabic: زحمة (zaḥma) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Arabic: زحمة (zaḥma) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Arabic: زحمة (zaḥme) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Arabic: زحمة سير (zaḥmet sēr) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Arabic: أزمة (ʔazme) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Armenian: խցանում (xcʻanum) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Azerbaijani: tıxac — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Basque: auto-ilara — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Belarusian: ко́рак (kórak) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Belarusian: зато́р (zatór) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Belarusian: даро́жны зато́р (daróžny zatór) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Bengali: যানজট (janojoṭ) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Bulgarian: задръ́стване (zadrǎ́stvane) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Catalan: embós — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Catalan: embús — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Catalan: embotellament — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Chinese Cantonese: 塞車 /塞车 (sak1 ce1) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Chinese Mandarin: 交通阻塞 (jiāotōng zǔsè) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Chinese Mandarin: 塞車 /塞车 (sāichē) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Chinese Mandarin: 堵車 /堵车 (dǔchē) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Cornish: daromdak — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Czech: dopravní zácpa — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Czech: zácpa — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Danish: trafikprop — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Dutch: file — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Dutch: opstopping — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Esperanto: trafikŝtopiĝo — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Estonian: liiklusummik — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Estonian: ummik — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Faroese: ferðslutøppur — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Finnish: seisova liikenne — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Finnish: liikennetukos — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Finnish: paha liikenneruuhka — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Finnish: ruuhka — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • French: embouteillage — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • French: bouchon — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • French: congestion — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • French: engorgement — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Georgian: საცობი (sacobi) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • German: Stau — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • German: Verkehrsstau — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • German: Verkehrsinfarkt — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Greek: μποτιλιάρισμα (botiliárisma) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Greenlandic: angallattut tattoqiuttut — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Hebrew: פְּקַק תְּנוּעָה — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Hindi: चक्काजाम (cakkājām) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Hungarian: forgalmi dugó — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Hungarian: dugó — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Hungarian: közlekedési dugó — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Hungarian: torlódás — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Icelandic: umferðarteppa — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Indonesian: kemacetan — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Indonesian: macet — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Irish: plódú tráchta — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Irish: tranglam tráchta — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Italian: ingorgo — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Italian: ingorgo stradale — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Japanese: 交通渋滞 (kōtsū jūtai) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Japanese: 渋滞 (jūtai) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Japanese: 雑踏 (zattō) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Kazakh: кептеліс (keptelıs) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Khmer: ស្ទះចរាចរ (stĕəh cɑɑraacɑɑ) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Korean: 교통 체증 (gyotong chejeung) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Korean: 교통 혼잡 (gyotong honjap) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Lao: ຈະຣາຈອນຄັບຄັ່ງ (cha rā chǭn khap khang) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Latin: coacervātiō vehiculōrum — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Latvian: sastrēgums — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Lithuanian: eismo spūstis — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Lithuanian: eismo grūstis — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Lithuanian: kamštis — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Macedonian: застој (zastoj) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Malay: kesesakan trafik — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Malay: kesesakan lalu lintas — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Māori: taero waka — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Māori: inaki waka — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Mongolian: түгжрэл (tügžrel) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Norwegian Bokmål: trafikkork — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Norwegian Bokmål: trafikk-kork — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Norwegian Bokmål: bilkø — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: trafikkork — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: trafikk-kork — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Pannonian Rusyn: застой (zastoj) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Iranian Persian: راهبَنْدان (râh-bandân) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Polish: korek — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Polish: zator — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Polish: zastój — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Portuguese: engarrafamento — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Portuguese: congestionamento — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Portuguese: trânsito — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Romanian: ambuteiaj — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Romansh: stagnaziun dal traffic — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Romansh: colonnas dad autos — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Russian: про́бка (próbka) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Russian: зато́р (zatór) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Russian: автомоби́льная про́бка (avtomobílʹnaja próbka) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Russian: доро́жный зато́р (doróžnyj zatór) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Scottish Gaelic: stopadh trafaig — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Serbo-Croatian: за́стој — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Serbo-Croatian: zástoj — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Slovak: dopravná zápcha — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Slovak: zápcha — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Slovene: zastoj — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: embotellamiento — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: atasco — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: caravana — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: cola — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: fila — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: presa — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: taco — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: tapón — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: trabazón — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: tranca — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: trancón — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: tráfico — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: tranque — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: congestión de tránsito — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: congestión vehicular — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Spanish: trancadera — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Swahili: mfungamano wa magari — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Swedish: bilkö — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Swedish: trafikstockning — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Tagalog: pagsisikip ng trapiko — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Tagalog: trapik — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Tajik: роҳбандон (rohbandon) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Tajik: роҳбанд (rohband) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Thai: รถติด (rót-dtìt) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Tigrinya: ጭቕጭቕ ትራፊክ (č̣əx̣č̣əx̣ tərafik) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Tigrinya: ጽቕጥቅጥ ትራፊክ (ṣəx̣ṭəḳṭ tərafik) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Turkish: tıkanıklık — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Turkish: trafik sıkışıklığı — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Ukrainian: про́бка (próbka) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Ukrainian: зато́р (zatór) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Ukrainian: доро́жній зато́р (doróžnij zatór) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Urdu: جمود آمد و رفت (jumūd-e-āmad-o-raft) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Urdu: انجماد آمد و رفت (injimād-e-āmad-o-raft) — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Uzbek: tiqilinch — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Vietnamese: ách tắc giao thông — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Vietnamese: tắc đường — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Vietnamese: kẹt xe — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow
  • Welsh: tagfa draffig — situation in which all road traffic is stationary or very slow