What does "busy" mean?
A police officer.
Busy
/ˈbɪz.i/ adj, noun, verb, slang
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A police officer.
- Grammar: busy is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: engaged, absorb, active, active.
- Useful contrasts: calm, chic, clean.
- Usage evidence: They are too busy fighting against each other to care for common ideals.
How to use "busy"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "busy" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "busy" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "busy" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "busy" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "busy" is acting as adj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "engaged" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "busy", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 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 To make somebody busy or active; to occupy. reflexive, transitive, usually
"On my vacation I'll busy myself with gardening."
- 2 keep busy with wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on.
"Be careful crossing that busy street."
- 2 Engaged with or preoccupied by an activity or person.
"The director cannot see you now: he's busy."
- 3 Having much work to do; having much to get done.
"Near-synonym: swamped"
- 4 Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate.
"Flowers, stripes, and checks in the same fabric make for a busy pattern."
- 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 crowded with or characterized by much activity wordnet
- 2 actively or fully engaged or occupied wordnet
- 3 intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner wordnet
- 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 overcrowded or cluttered with detail wordnet
Example
"They are too busy fighting against each other to care for common ideals."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "busy"?
Common synonyms include: engaged, absorb, active, active, active online community, arabesque.
How do you use "busy" in a sentence?
They are too busy fighting against each other to care for common ideals.
How do you pronounce "busy"?
Pronounced /ˈbɪz.i/.
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”).