Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Engaged in activity, as work; occupied. synonym: active.
  • adjective Characterized by or sustaining much activity.
  • adjective Being a busybody; meddlesome; prying.
  • adjective Being in use, as a telephone line.
  • adjective Cluttered with detail to the point of being distracting.
  • transitive verb To make busy; occupy.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To employ with constant attention; keep engaged; make or keep busy: as, to busy one's self with books.
  • In decoration, full of detail; overcrowded; fussy.
  • Actively or attentively engaged; closely occupied physically or mentally; intent upon that which one is doing; not at leisure: opposed to idle.
  • Active in that which does not concern one; meddling with or prying into the affairs of others; officious; importunate.
  • In constant or energetic action; rapidly moving or moved; diligently used: as, busy hands or thoughts.
  • Pertaining or due to energetic action; manifesting constant or rapid movement.
  • Requiring constant attention, as a task.
  • Filled with, active duties or employment.
  • Careful; anxious. Chaucer.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Engaged in some business; hard at work (either habitually or only for the time being); occupied with serious affairs; not idle nor at leisure.
  • adjective Constantly at work; diligent; active.
  • adjective Crowded with business or activities; -- said of places and times.
  • adjective Officious; meddling; foolish active.
  • adjective obsolete Careful; anxious.
  • transitive verb To make or keep busy; to employ; to engage or keep engaged; to occupy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Doing a great deal; having a lot of things to do in the space of time given
  • adjective Engaged in another activity or by someone else.
  • adjective Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate.
  • verb To make somebody busy, to keep busy with, to occupy, to make occupied.
  • verb To rush somebody.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
  • adjective crowded with or characterized by much activity
  • adjective (of facilities such as telephones or lavatories) unavailable for use by anyone else or indicating unavailability; (`engaged' is a British term for a busy telephone line)
  • adjective overcrowded or cluttered with detail
  • verb keep busy with
  • adjective actively or fully engaged or occupied

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English bisi, busi, from Old English bysig.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English busi, besy, bisi, from Old English bysiġ, *biesiġ, bisiġ ("busy, occupied, diligent"). Cognate with Dutch bezig ("busy"), Low German besig ("busy"), Old Frisian bisgia ("to use"), Old English bisgian ("to occupy, employ, trouble, afflict").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word busy.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "Busy, busy, busy is what we Bokononists whisper whenever we think of how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is." - Cat's Cradle

    December 3, 2006

  • Guapo was busy plucking his macaws, but at the word tapir he sprang to his feet, making the feathers fly in all directions.

    --Captain Mayne Reid, The Forest Exiles; or, The Perils of a Peruvian Family amid the Wilds of the Amazon, New Edition. p.145. New York. Thomas R. Knox & Co., 1854.

    September 25, 2014