bustling
Americanadjective
-
moving or acting with a great show of energy.
I watched her preparing lunch in the kitchen—a compact, bustling woman of around forty with her hair in a tight bun.
-
abounding or teeming with people or activities that create an atmosphere of energy.
This midwestern city is a bustling hub for business, education, recreation, and government.
noun
Other Word Forms
- bustlingly adverb
- unbustling adjective
Etymology
Origin of bustling
First recorded in 1425–75; bustl(e) 1 ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; bustl(e) 1 ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun sense
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.
The aim is to be bustlingly kinetic, but the feel is pure kindergarten: no logic, just jerky leaps from one gaming situation to the next, with characters and objects taking on whatever powers are needed.
A drive-in sits in the center of a huge clearing, the surrounding trees blocking out the town’s bustling sounds and creating the illusion that we’re far away.
From Literature
Earlier, AFP journalists saw travellers at Beijing's bustling airport forming a snaking queue to check in their luggage with the airline.
From Barron's
Even general admission grants access to bustling food halls, secret speakeasies and pop-ups from viral brands.
From Los Angeles Times
Myanmar's ageing railway stations are bustling with life, crowded with passengers as surging fuel prices due to the Mideast war drive commuters to choose trains over costly planes and cars.
From Barron's
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.
