busy

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“
They just can't spare the time -- busy, busy, busy, at those think-tanks, at those conferences, giving their ponderous views ponderously hither and yon -- to sit still, and read.

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Definitions (24)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. adjective Engaged in activity, as work; occupied.
  2. adjective Sustaining much activity: a busy morning; a busy street.
  3. adjective Meddlesome; prying.
4 more from this dictionary »

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (9)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (6)

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Examples (50)

  • You're also busy, which is why I believe 2009 demands a quality-over-quantity model that cuts through the noise succinctly and with a laser's focus. —  GreenCine Daily
  • Make for a busy area and tell people what is happening. —  Whitehaven News headlines
  • She says the number was busy, which is something she finds often when trying to get through in the morning. —  RNews - TOP STORIES
  • They just can't spare the time -- busy, busy, busy, at those think-tanks, at those conferences, giving their ponderous views ponderously hither and yon -- to sit still, and read. —  Jihad Watch
  • A good day yesterday -- busy, but without the intensity that makes one frazzled -- thank heavens! —  The EDM SuperBlog
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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

happy ·  new ·  active ·  long ·  anxious

Used in the same contextWord Family

busy:   busier ·  busiest ·  busies ·  busied
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English bisi, busi, from Old English bysig.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English bisy, bysy, besy, busi, busy, etc., from Anglo-Saxon bysig, busy, occupied (later bysgu, occupation, labor, toil, affliction), = Dutch bezig = Low German besig, busy, active. Further affinities doubtful. The spelling with u is due to the frequent use of that letter in Middle English with its F. sound, the same as the sound of Anglo-Saxon y, for which it was often substituted. The proper English representative of Anglo-Saxon y is i, as in the phonetically parallel dizzy, from Anglo-Saxon dysig.
  2. from Middle English busien, bisien, besien, from Anglo-Saxon bysigan, bysgian, occupy, employ, trouble (= Dutch bezigen, use, employ), from bysig, busy: see busy, a.
 

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/ˈbɪzi/
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