busy

[ biz-ee ]

/ ˈbɪz i /

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adjective, bus·i·er, bus·i·est.

actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime: busy with her work.

not at leisure; otherwise engaged: He couldn't see any visitors because he was busy.

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), bus·ied, bus·y·ing.

to keep occupied; make or keep busy: In summer, he busied himself keeping the lawn in order.

Nearby words

Origin of busy

before 1000; Middle English busi, bisi, Old English bysig, bisig; cognate with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch besich, Dutch bezig

SYNONYMS FOR busy

1. assiduous, hard-working. 2. occupied, employed, working.

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ANTONYMS FOR busy

1. indolent. 2. unoccupied.

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Related forms

non·bus·y, adjectiveo·ver·bus·y, adjectivesu·per·bus·y, adjectiveun·bus·y, adjective

well-bus·ied, adjective

Synonym study

1. 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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for busier

And the cameras on the busier streets would show hundreds of people going past.
Exclusive: Inside a Cop-Killer’s Final Hours|Michael Daly|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On busier roads, elderly, scarved women sat by piles of potatoes and onions hoping forlornly for a sale.
As the Key Battle Looms, a Report from Ukraine's Front Lines|Jamie Dettmer|August 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And its employees are likely to be busier in the coming months.
Existing Home Sales Rise in July|Daniel Gross|August 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The first of these ran through a section purely rural, but there was not a busier 500 miles of single track in the East.
The Modern Railroad|Edward Hungerford

"Widders an' old maids, they're busier than the divil in a gale o' wind," grumbled the captain.
Strangers and Wayfarers|Sarah Orne Jewett
They swung their hammers and chattered away at the same time, the busier the merrier; they were never idle or tired of their work.
Fairy Tales from the German Forests|Margaret Arndt
The busier chickadees and creepers searched the twigs and trunks, interpolating occasional remarks.
The Rules of the Game|Stewart Edward White
For eight months or so Remington Solander was busier than he had ever been in his life.
Solander's Radio Tomb|Ellis Parker Butler

British Dictionary definitions for busier

busy

/ (ˈbɪzɪ) /

adjective busier or busiest

actively or fully engaged; occupied

crowded with or characterized by activitya busy day

mainly US and Canadian (of a room, telephone line, etc) in use; engaged

overcrowded with detaila busy painting

meddlesome; inquisitive; prying

verb busies, busying or busied

(tr) to make or keep (someone, esp oneself) busy; occupy

Derived Formsbusyness, noun

Word Origin for busy

Old English bisig; related to Middle Dutch besich, perhaps to Latin festīnāre to hurry

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for busier

busy

adj.

Old English bisig "careful, anxious," later "continually employed or occupied," cognate with Old Dutch bezich, Low German besig; no known connection with any other Germanic or Indo-European language. Still pronounced as in Middle English, but for some unclear reason the spelling shifted to -u- in 15c.

The notion of "anxiousness" has drained from the word since Middle English. Often in a bad sense in early Modern English, "prying, meddlesome" (preserved in busybody). The word was a euphemism for "sexually active" in 17c. Of telephone lines, 1893. Of display work, "excessively detailed, visually cluttered," 1903.

busy

late Old English bisgian, from busy (adj.). Related: Busied; busying.

Idioms and Phrases with busier

busy

In addition to the idioms beginning with busy

busy as a beaver
busy work

also see:

get busy

busy

adjective, bus·i·er, bus·i·est.

verb (used with object), bus·ied, bus·y·ing.

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of busy

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for busier

busy

adjective busier or busiest

verb busies, busying or busied

Word Origin for busy

busy

busy

busy