Busy

//ˈbɪz.i// adj, noun, verb, slang

adj, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A police officer. UK, derogatory, slang

    "I remember playing on a building site once and coming across a five-pound note. I could hardly believe it when I spotted it poking out of the rubble. Excitedly, I ran straight home and gave it to my mum. I was hero of the hour until I got into trouble with the busies – the police – soon afterwards for pinching a bottle of milk from a float."

Verb
  1. 1
    To make somebody busy or active; to occupy. reflexive, transitive, usually

    "On my vacation I'll busy myself with gardening."

  2. 2
    keep busy with wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on.

    "Be careful crossing that busy street."

  2. 2
    Engaged with or preoccupied by an activity or person.

    "The director cannot see you now: he's busy."

  3. 3
    Having much work to do; having much to get done.

    "Near-synonym: swamped"

  4. 4
    Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate.

    "Flowers, stripes, and checks in the same fabric make for a busy pattern."

  5. 5
    Officious; meddling.

    "I will be hanged if some eternal villain, Some busy and insinuating rogue, Some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office, Have not devised this slander; I'll be hanged else."

Adjective
  1. 1
    crowded with or characterized by much activity wordnet
  2. 2
    actively or fully engaged or occupied wordnet
  3. 3
    intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner wordnet
  4. 4
    (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) wordnet
  5. 5
    overcrowded or cluttered with detail wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
activeat workengagedfussytied upswamped

Example

More examples

"They are too busy fighting against each other to care for common ideals."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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”).

Related phrases

I'm busyWheal Busybusy aroundbusy as a beaverbusy as a beebusy as a dyke in a hardware storebusy as a nailerbusy as a one-armed paper hangerbusy as a one-armed paperhangerbusy beaverbusy beaver functionbusy bee

More for "busy"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.