busy
Americanadjective
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actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime.
busy with her work.
- Synonyms:
- hardworking, assiduous
- Antonyms:
- indolent
-
not at leisure; otherwise engaged.
He couldn't see any visitors because he was busy.
- Antonyms:
- unoccupied
-
full of or characterized by activity.
a busy life.
-
(of a telephone line) in use by a party or parties and not immediately accessible.
-
officious; meddlesome; prying.
-
ornate, disparate, or clashing in design or colors; cluttered with small, unharmonious details; fussy.
The rug is too busy for this room.
verb (used with object)
adjective
-
actively or fully engaged; occupied
-
crowded with or characterized by activity
a busy day
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(of a room, telephone line, etc) in use; engaged
-
overcrowded with detail
a busy painting
-
meddlesome; inquisitive; prying
verb
Synonym Usage
Busy, diligent, industrious imply active or earnest effort to accomplish something, or a habitual attitude of such earnestness. Busy means actively employed, temporarily or habitually: a busy official. Diligent suggests earnest and constant effort or application, and usually connotes fondness for, or enjoyment of, what one is doing: a diligent student. Industrious often implies a habitual characteristic of steady and zealous application, often with a definite goal: an industrious clerk working for promotion.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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busynessnoun
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nonbusyadjective
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overbusyadjective
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superbusyadjective
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unbusyadjective
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well-busiedadjective
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
busysimple
-
busiessimple
-
have busiedperfect
-
has busiedperfect
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am busyingprogressive
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are busyingprogressive
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is busyingprogressive
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have been busyingperfect progressive
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has been busyingperfect progressive
Past
-
busiedsimple
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had busiedperfect
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was busyingprogressive
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were busyingprogressive
-
had been busyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of busy
First recorded before 950; Middle English busi, bisi, Old English bysig, bisig; cognate with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch besich, Dutch bezig
Explanation
When you're busy, you have things to do. You're occupied and probably not bored. This word always means there's some kind of activity. When a phone line is busy, you can't get your call through. If you find the bathroom is busy, you'll have to wait it's free. When a supervisor is around, employees need to look busy. A busy intersection is loaded with traffic. If you're too busy playing basketball to finish your homework, your grades might suffer. It's good to be busy, but when people are too busy, they get stressed out.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Meanwhile on Wall Street, investors are awaiting this week’s Fed meeting on interest rates and a busy week of corporate earnings.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is a busy man.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
As a busy parent, Abdur-Rashid says she doesn't always have the time to do everything she'd like with her children, but structures their days to make sure they are always doing an activity.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Because of all that ambition, Cantrall is busy nearly all of the time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Of course me and Glenn naturally did the work of ten, sweeping, polishing, fitting up the stovepipe: busy as bees, good as gold.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
“We are busier than we’ve ever been,” he said of the firm, founded in 1962.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
The end of next week will be even busier, with about 10,500 outbound cars on both 24 and 25 July.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
“I think beach-side hotels have been busier, because tourists are more interested in going to the beach while here.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
“I’m as busy or busier than I’ve ever been,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
“Work is busier than usual, and your mother’s still in bed.”
From "Amal Unbound" by Aisha Saeed
The busiest week of corporate earnings is coming up, with 177 S&P 500 companies set to report in the days ahead.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026
New concourses, expanded corridors and improved passenger facilities have reshaped the transit hub, which serves hundreds of thousands of commuters and travelers each day and remains the busiest rail station in the United States.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
The bridge has long faced pushback from the Moroun family in Michigan, who own the neighbouring Ambassador Bridge, the busiest commercial border crossing in North America and one of the few that are privately owned.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
With the Red Sea a key link between Europe and Asia, the strait is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
The man Baba and I spoke with on the first evening was right: afternoons are the busiest.
From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell
In addition to helping customers with their plant selections, Mejia also rings them up at the register and then busies herself with tidying and organizing the shop.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2025
Meanwhile, Nouman busies himself with scouring the ground for twigs and bits of wood to make a fire.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 4, 2024
She and care worker Michelle Rispin laugh and joke with each other, as Michelle busies herself checking Kath has the food and help she needs.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2023
Jack, meanwhile, busies his hands calling up images on his impressive machine.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2023
All that spring and into the summer, Helmuth busies himself with the Jungvolk—its meetings and games and weekend hiking and camping trips.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The immediate days after my wife moved out of our home, I busied myself in a “bounce back” way that’s been my signature move since forever.
From Salon ● Jun. 1, 2026
That is something Mr. Nguyen experienced personally when he busied himself pursuing publication in highly ranked journals instead of writing about what he truly loved: the philosophy of games.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
Local people busied themselves with clearing away the rubble and recovering a few possessions.
From Barron's ● Mar. 7, 2026
On turning 90, she continued to live quietly in Chichester, where she busied herself raising money for the cathedral roof.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2025
I now busied myself in preparations: the fortnight passed rapidly.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Really though, you are only busying yourself and putting off the inevitable trek back home for a few more minutes.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2025
Murdoch was also busying himself growing his operations in the US, where he gained a foothold in 1976 with US tabloid the New York Post.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2023
As a 28-year-old, “I should be busying my days with travel and thinking about my next tattoo,” Ingram wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
In a makeshift supply depot in the capital, Kyiv, crowd-funders start busying themselves with his request.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 26, 2022
He wasn’t sure how to form his thoughts into a question, and before he could, Suheyla, busying herself wiping up the cutting board, went on in the same quiet way.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
