busy
/ˈbɪz.i/ adjective, noun, verb
Forms busier busiest busies busying busied busie
- adjective Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on. “Be careful crossing that busy street.”
- adjective Engaged with or preoccupied by an activity or person. “The director cannot see you now: he's busy.”
- adjective Having much work to do; having much to get done.
- adjective Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate. “Flowers, stripes, and checks in the same fabric make for a busy pattern.”
- adjective Officious; meddling.
- noun (slang, UK, Liverpool, derogatory) A police officer.
- verb (transitive, usually reflexive) To make somebody busy or active; to occupy. “On my vacation I'll busy myself with gardening.”
Synonyms
heavy bustling swamped occupy fussy interfering meddlesome meddling officious busybodied engaged in use
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English bisy, busie, from Old English bisiġ (“busy, occupied, diligent”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisīg (“diligent; zealous; busy”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian biesich (“active, diligent, hard-working, industrious”), Dutch bezig (“busy”), Low German besig (“busy”). The spelling with ⟨u⟩ represents the pronunciation of the West Midland and Southern dialects while the Modern English pronunciation with /ɪ/ is from the dialects of the East Midlands.
From Middle English bisien, from Old English bisgian (“to occupy, employ, trouble, afflict”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisīgōn. Cognate with Old Frisian bisgia (“to use”).
Webster’s 1913
- 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; as, a busy merchant.
- adjective Constantly at work; diligent; active.
- verb To make or keep busy; to employ; to engage or keep engaged; to occupy; as, to busy one's self with books.
Etymology [OE. busi, bisi, AS. bysig; akin to D. bezig, LG. besig; cf. Skr. bh to be active, busy.]
Etymology [AS. bysgian.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “busy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details