Synonyms for busy
ˈbɪz ibusy

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. busy

   Active refers to both quickness and constancy of action; in the former sense it is allied with agile, alert, brisk, etc.; in the latter, with busy, diligent, industrious. The active love employment, the busy are actually employed, the diligent and the industrious are habitually busy. The restless are active from inability to keep quiet; their activity may be without purpose, or out of all proportion to the purpose contemplated. The officious are undesirably active in the affairs of others. Compare ALERT; ALIVE; MEDDLESOME.

   Synonyms:
   active, agile, alert, brisk, bustling, diligent, energetic, expeditious, industrious, lively, mobile, nimble, officious, prompt, quick, ready, restless, sprightly, spry, supple, vigorous, wide awake

   Antonyms:
   dull, heavy, idle, inactive, indolent, inert, lazy, quiescent, quiet, slow, sluggish, stupid

   Preposition:
   Active in work, in a cause; for an object, as for justice; with persons or instrumentalities; about something, as about other people's business.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. busy

   Synonyms:
   industrious, diligent, assiduous, engaged, occupied

   Antonyms:
   idle, slothful, lazy, indolent, unoccupied

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:3.3 / 3 votes

1. busyadjective

   actively or fully engaged or occupied

   "busy with her work"; "a busy man"; "too busy to eat lunch"

   Synonyms:
   in use(p), busybodied, meddling, meddlesome, interfering, engaged, officious, fussy

   Antonyms:
   not intrusive, bone-idle, unoccupied, faineant, slothful, unintrusive, bone-lazy, lazy, work-shy, otiose, inactive, idle, unengaged, leisured, plain, lackadaisical, indolent

2. busy, fussyadjective

   overcrowded or cluttered with detail

   "a busy painting"; "a fussy design"

   Synonyms:
   engaged, busybodied, particular, meddlesome, picky, in use(p), interfering, meddling, finical, cross, bad-tempered, grumpy, grouchy, crabby, crabbed, finicky, fussy, officious, ill-tempered

   Antonyms:
   lazy, plain, not intrusive, lackadaisical, idle, indolent, work-shy, slothful, leisured, unoccupied, bone-idle, bone-lazy, unengaged, faineant, otiose, unintrusive, inactive

3. interfering, meddlesome, meddling, officious, busy, busybodiedadjective

   intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner

   "an interfering old woman"; "bustling about self-importantly making an officious nuisance of himself"; "busy about other people's business"

   Synonyms:
   interfering, busybodied, meddling, meddlesome, fussy, engaged, officious, in use(p)

   Antonyms:
   work-shy, not intrusive, unoccupied, otiose, slothful, lackadaisical, lazy, faineant, bone-idle, idle, plain, indolent, unengaged, leisured, unintrusive, bone-lazy, inactive

4. busyadjective

   crowded with or characterized by much activity

   "a very busy week"; "a busy life"; "a busy street"; "a busy seaport"

   Synonyms:
   in use(p), busybodied, meddling, meddlesome, interfering, engaged, officious, fussy

   Antonyms:
   not intrusive, lackadaisical, leisured, lazy, faineant, slothful, inactive, work-shy, idle, unintrusive, plain, bone-idle, unoccupied, bone-lazy, unengaged, indolent, otiose

5. busy, engaged, in use(p)verb

   (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)

   "her line is busy"; "receptionists' telephones are always engaged"; "the lavatory is in use"; "kept getting a busy signal"

   Antonyms:
   slothful, idle, unoccupied, work-shy, plain, inactive, not intrusive, unengaged, otiose, lackadaisical, bone-idle, indolent, faineant, lazy, bone-lazy, unintrusive, leisured

6. busy, occupyverb

   keep busy with

   "She busies herself with her butterfly collection"

   Synonyms:
   take, invade, reside, occupy, engage, lodge in, concern, worry, use up, engross, interest, fill, absorb

   Antonyms:
   plain, otiose, indolent, unengaged, faineant, slothful, idle, work-shy, bone-idle, unintrusive, bone-lazy, inactive, unoccupied, lazy, leisured, lackadaisical, not intrusive

Matched Categories

1. • Work

Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. non-availability

   free is an antonym of non-availability, so busy will be a synonym for non-availability.

   Submitted by anonymous on August 16, 2020  

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. busyadjective

   Synonyms:
   diligent, assiduous, industrious, sedulous, notable, active, working, hard-working, at work; diligently employed, engaged, or occupied

2. busyadjective

   Synonyms:
   brisk, stirring, bustling, nimble, agile, SPRY, constantly in motion

3. busyadjective

   Synonyms:
   meddling, officious, importunate

4. busyverb

   Synonyms:
   occupy, employ, make busy

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:1.5 / 2 votes

1. busyadjective

   Synonyms:
   occupied, engaged, employed, engrossed, diligent, industrious, sedulous, active, intrusive, officious, meddlesome

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "busy":

   occupied, crowded, heavy, peak, overcrowded, congested, congestion

NicknamesRate these nicknames:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of known nicknames for "Busy":

   Sascha Bühren

Suggested Resources

1. BUSY

   What does BUSY stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the BUSY acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

How to pronounce busy?

How to say busy in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use busy in a sentence?

1. Tristain Abu Shury:

   Always take a moment each day to give thanks for life. While some of us are busy seeking happiness and chasing our dreams, many would trade a day of good health for anything.

2. Geoff Porter:

   The Islamic State in Libya doesn't have comparable revenue streams – no oil sales, no sizeable population to tax and extort, in Libya, there is a superabundance of armed groups. For the most part they are busy fighting each other, but they could potentially be harnessed to eliminate Islamic State.

3. The Reddit user:

   I work 60-100 hours a week, so if anyone needs time off, its me, she wrote. Last year, however, the woman claimed the two asked her to babysit on the day of her own important work retreat. Everyone is expected to go [on the retreat], and its frowned upon if you miss it. They wanted to go on a date. I said no, I have an important work event. They continued to nag me about how they havent gone on a date for so long, she wrote. The night before her work event, they called in a panic and said their friend Mike from the next city over had been in a car accident, and I needed to babysit nephew for a few hours. The Reddit user said shereluctantly agreed, but under the condition that they be back by 7 a.m. the next day so she could leave for the retreat.But her brother and sister-in-law did not return for two days, and did not answer any of her phone calls or texts. I had to cancel on my superiors morning of, which looked awful, she wrote. DAD IN TROUBLE WITH WIFE AND DAUGHTER AFTER BUYING MCDONALDS FOR HIMSELF, AND ONLY HIMSELF Her brother had an excuse when they returned, claiming Mikes life was in danger and they were too busy helping his girlfriend. And then, for weeks afterward, the Reddit user said her brother and sister-in-law asked her to babysit many more times, each time saying they werevisitingMike to help him with his recovery. Two months later, however, the woman claims that her company, and the company that Mikes girlfriend works for,had a meeting, and that she ran into the two of them. Mike had never been in an accident, and although [my brother and sister-in-law] had gone to visit them recently, it was for drinks and bowling, not bringing them chicken noodle soup in the hospital, she wrote. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER After confronting her brother and sister-in-law, the woman said they admitted to lying so they could go on date nights. They claimed I gave them no choice since I would never help them out when they needed time together because parenting was so stressful and difficult.

4. Daniil Medvedev:

   I didn't sleep so much. There were a lot of things going on. I did reply to most of my messages, all of them on WhatsApp and most of them on other social media [platforms], which takes some time after a big win like this, i even managed to play a little bit of Formula 1 [video game] here in the hotel. It was a busy night. I celebrated with my coach after the match [and] did all the media things. I got a good two hours of sleep.

5. Denisova Cave:

   So, we will continue our study in the third chamber( South Chamber), where excavations have only recently begun and are continuing at the present time. Also, we are busy working on a large number of other sites in the Altai region, to provide a regional-scale timeline for the hominin occupation and environmental history of southern Siberia.