activity

American  

[ak-tiv-i-tee] / ækˈtɪv ɪ ti /

noun

• activities
  plural

1. the state or quality of being active.

   There was not much activity in the stock market today. He doesn't have enough physical activity in his life.

2. a specific deed, action, function, or sphere of action.

   social activities.

3. work, especially in elementary grades at school, that involves direct experience by the student rather than textbook study.

4. energetic activity; animation; liveliness.

5. a use of energy or force; an active movement or operation.

6. normal mental or bodily power, function, or process.

7. Physical Chemistry. the capacity of a substance to react, corrected for the loss of reactivity due to the interaction of its constituents.

8. Physics.

   1. the number of atoms of a radioactive substance that disintegrate per unit of time, usually expressed in curies.

   2. radioactivity.

9. an organizational unit or the function it performs.

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activity British  

/ ækˈtɪvɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state or quality of being active

2. lively action or movement

3. any specific deed, action, pursuit, etc

   recreational activities

4. the number of disintegrations of a radioactive substance in a given unit of time, usually expressed in curies or disintegrations per second

5. 1. the capacity of a substance to undergo chemical change

   2. the effective concentration of a substance in a chemical system. The absolute activity of a substance B, λ B , is defined as exp (μ B RT ) where μ B is the chemical potential

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonactivity
  noun
• preactivity
  noun
• superactivity
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• activities
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of activity

First recorded in 1520–30; from Middle French or directly from Medieval Latin āctīvitās; see active, -ity

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Explanation

An activity is something you do, or just the state of doing. You might plan some indoor activities for a rainy day, or you might just rely on watching your gerbils' activity in their cage. Usually, when you use an article like an or the in front of activity, you are referring to a specific event. For example, you might search for the best activity on the cruise ship to fill your afternoon — shuffleboard, anyone? If you take the article away, and you refer to activity, you are usually referring to action. If there is too much activity on the cruise ship dance floor, you might want to avoid that zone.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

activity activities

Netflix estimates the first season generated more than $23 million in economic activity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

The Welsh government said the consultation would seek views on the proposed "enforcement framework", including "online age-verification arrangements, assessing compliance activity, sanctions, implementation timescales and monitoring arrangements".

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

The first opportunities come from the Southern and Northern Taurids, two related meteor showers that reach their highest activity levels about a week apart.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026

His music sometimes reminds me of a multitude of wheels within one encompassing wheel—a sort of kaleidoscopic stasis that is actually bursting with variety and activity within.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

He was charged with prolonging the war by his activity as a Volkssturm organizer.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Administrators overseeing housing, student activities and orientation meet often to discuss melt.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

He continued: "Its activities are often undertaken covertly with no suggestion of restraint or proportionality, and that at the point it was proscribed it had an escalating trajectory of seriousness and an expanding focus."

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

Restricting commercial activities and financing of a firm involved in the fires will make that company "a corporate pariah", he said.

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

These changes can make everyday activities more difficult and gradually reduce mobility and physical independence.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026

The Home Evening meetings bored Melita Maschmann, but she enjoyed the weekend activities.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

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Related Words

• act
• endeavor
• enterprise
• job
• project
• scheme
• task
• venture
• work

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