| English Dictionary |
BUSY (busied, busier, busiest)
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
, busier , busiest Dictionary entry overview: What does busy mean?
• BUSY (adjective)
The adjective BUSY has 5 senses:
1. actively or fully engaged or occupied
2. overcrowded or cluttered with detail
3. intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
4. crowded with or characterized by much activity
5. (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)
Familiarity information: BUSY used as an adjective is common.
• BUSY (verb)
The verb BUSY has 1 sense:
1. keep busy with
Familiarity information: BUSY used as a verb is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: busiest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Actively or fully engaged or occupied
Context example:
too busy to eat lunch
Similar:
at work (on the job)
drudging; laboring; labouring; toiling (doing arduous or unpleasant work)
engaged; occupied (having ones attention or mind or energy engaged)
overbusy (too busy)
tied up (kept occupied or engaged)
up to (busy or occupied with)
Also:
diligent (characterized by care and perseverance in carrying out tasks)
employed (having your services engaged for; or having a job especially one that pays wages or a salary)
Antonym:
idle (not in action or at work)
Derivation:
busyness (the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Overcrowded or cluttered with detail
Synonyms:
busy; fussy
Context example:
a fussy design
Similar:
fancy (not plain; decorative or ornamented)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
Synonyms:
busy; busybodied; interfering; meddlesome; meddling; officious
Context example:
busy about other people's business
Similar:
intrusive (tending to intrude (especially upon privacy))
Sense 4
Meaning:
Crowded with or characterized by much activity
Context example:
a busy seaport
Similar:
active (full of activity or engaged in continuous activity)
Derivation:
busyness (the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity)
Sense 5
Meaning:
(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)
Synonyms:
Context example:
kept getting a busy signal
Similar:
occupied (held or filled or in use)
Derivation:
busyness (the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity)
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it busies Past simple: busied
Past participle: busied
-ing form: busying
Sense 1
Meaning:
Keep busy with
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Synonyms:
busy; occupy
Context example:
She busies herself with her butterfly collection
Hypernyms (to "busy" is one way to...):
work (exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "busy"):
dabble; play around; smatter (work with in an amateurish manner)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Context examples
“We have had a very busy day, and not entirely a wasted one,” my friend explained.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“You will excuse me for not waiting for you,” said he; “I have, I foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of young Openshaw’s.”
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"My money'll take care of itself. If you weren't so busy, I'd kiss you good morning."
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
It must have been the case, then, that the man in the waiting-room had, for some unknown reason, while I was busy with the other, ascended to the room of my resident patient.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I was pretty busy now; up at five in the morning, and home at nine or ten at night.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
He was too busy adjusting himself to the new life to feel at ease, and not only did he not pick fights, but he avoided them whenever possible.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
Whilst we were busy chafing her limbs there was a knock at the hall door.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
“And he is all the happier for leaving life alone. He is too busy living it to think about it. My mistake was in ever opening the books.”
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
None the less, his success continued, and the less skilful hunters were often kept busy hauling in his meat.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
After walking several miles in a leisurely manner, and too busy to know anything about it, they found at last, on examining their watches, that it was time to be at home.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Not need to know French to ask to sleep outside" (Breton proverb)
"The best place in the world is on the back of a horse, and the best thing to do in time is to read a book." (Arabic proverb)
"Theory dominates practice." (Corsican proverb)