busy
Americanadjective
-
busier,
comparative
-
busiest
superlative
-
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)
-
busies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
busied,
past participle, past
-
busying
present participle
adjective
-
actively or fully engaged; occupied
-
crowded with or characterized by activity
a busy day
-
(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
-
nonbusyadjective
-
overbusyadjective
-
superbusyadjective
-
unbusyadjective
-
well-busiedadjective
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
busysimple
-
busiessimple
-
have busiedperfect
-
has busiedperfect
-
am busyingprogressive
-
are busyingprogressive
-
is busyingprogressive
-
have been busyingperfect progressive
-
has been busyingperfect progressive
Past
-
busiedsimple
-
had busiedperfect
-
was busyingprogressive
-
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:
“LAFD’s massive fire tender failed to follow basic safety standards in failing to stop, or even slow, the massive vehicle down before entering a very busy intersection,” the lawsuit alleged.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
Flash-estimate French and Spanish CPI inflation data for August on Friday will feature in the eurozone’s busy end-of-month economic data releases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
People are too busy searching for things “to be enraged about,” he said.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
Como is not the first Italian city to restrict bicycles in historic or busy parts.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
It was in the middle of a busy morning in the shop when Betsie slipped through the workshop door.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
It ushered in a new kind of fun that was fresher, busier and airier than past listservs and chatrooms, the dank basements of internet interaction.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
He chooses busier border crossings, avoids books prominently featuring politically sensitive figures and has hidden books inside his clothes, or deep in his luggage.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Americans were living busier lives, with longer commutes, and as more women entered the workforce, getting domestic errands done efficiently became key.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
"At the weekend it gets busier, but otherwise..." one hotel manager said, trailing off.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
He also began to suspect, since he was so much busier than anybody else, that he was the leader.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
As with the UFC fight, the IndyCar organizers are footing the bill for a huge logistical challenge which has shut down some of Washington's busiest roads for days.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
SpaceX is the world’s busiest rocket launcher, regularly deploying satellites and other payloads to orbit from multiple launch sites, with an established record on high-profile government projects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Heathrow said 19 July was its busiest day of the year so far as many schools broke up for summer, with 267,000 passengers passing through.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Locals were anticipating the busiest summer in years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
“This is our busiest day of the summer,” Ariana told me.
From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks
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
Afterward, Mrs. Roth busies herself by making sure the wax doesn’t drip all over the glass table, while everyone else gathers in the dining room for dessert.
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
An image published on social media by Iranian embassies abroad put Ghalibaf centre stage in the Iranian negotiating team, looking animated and gesturing with his hand, as Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi busied himself with teacups.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
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
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
Panda-Laney stepped inside and said hi to Mr. Jeet while Miss Josie busied herself chopping carrots, pouring glasses of milk, and setting out a plate of raspberry jam cookies.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
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 smiled hopefully, and I glanced over at Twig, because she was the one who usually started talking in awkward situations, but she’d turned pink and was busying herself by picking apart a marshmallow.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
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.
