busy

English

Etymology

From Middle English busi, besy, bisi, from Old English bysiġ, *biesiġ, bisiġ (“busy, occupied, diligent”). Cognate with Dutch bezig (“busy”), Low German besig (“busy”), Old Frisian bisgia (“to use”), Old English bisgian (“to occupy, employ, trouble, afflict”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: bĭz'i, IPA: /ˈbɪzi/, X-SAMPA: /"bIzi/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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• Rhymes: -ɪzi

Adjective

busy (comparative busier, superlative busiest)

1. Doing a great deal; having a lot of things to do in the space of time given

   It has been a busy day.

2. Engaged in another activity or by someone else.

   The director cannot see you now, he's busy.

   Her telephone has been busy all day.

   She is too busy to have time for riddles.

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

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

Related terms

• busy as a beaver
• busy as a bee
• busybody
• busyness
• busy work

Translations

doing a great deal

• Afrikaans: besig (af)
• Albanian: zënë (sq)
• American Sign Language: B@RadialWrist-PalmForward-OpenB@CenterChesthigh-PalmDown Sidetoside
• Arabic: مشغول (ar) (mashghuul)
• Azeri: məşğul (az)
• Bulgarian: деен (bg) (deen)
• Catalan: ocupat (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 忙 (cmn) (máng), 繁忙 (cmn) (fánmáng)

• Czech: zaměstnaný (cs) m, (of person) zaneprázděný (cs) m
• Danish: travl (da)
• Dutch: bezig (nl)
• Esperanto: okupata (eo)
• Estonian: toimekas (et)
• Finnish: kiireinen (fi), työntäyteinen (fi)
• French: occupé (fr)
• Galician: trang (gl)
• Georgian: დაკავებული (ka) (dakavebulia)
• German: beschäftigt (de)
• Greek: πολυάσχολος (el) (polyáskholos)
• Guernésiais: embarrassaï
• Hebrew: עָסוּק (he) ('asúq) m, עסוקה (he) ('asuqa) f
• Hindi: व्यस्त (hi) (vyasta), मसरूफ़ (hi) (masrūf), मशग़ूल (hi) (maśġūl)
• Hungarian: foglalt (hu)
• Icelandic: upptekinn (is)
• Ido: okupata (io)
• Indonesian: sibuk (id)
• Irish: gnóthach (ga)
• Italian: occupato (it)
• Japanese: 忙しい (ja) (いそがしい, isogashii), (in the middle of smth.) 使用中 (ja) (しようちゅう, shiyō-chū)

• Korean: 바쁜 (ko) (bappeun)
• Latin: operosus (la) m
• Latvian: nodarbināts (lv)
• Lithuanian: užsiėmusiam (lt)
• Mongolian: завгүй (mn) (zavgüj)
• Norwegian: travel (no), opptatt (no)
• Papiamentu: okupá
• Pashto: بوخت (ps) (buxt), اخته (ps) (axta)
• Persian: مشغول (fa) (mašğûl)
• Polish: zajęty (pl)
• Portuguese: ocupado (pt)
• Romanian: harnic (ro)
• Russian: занятой (ru) (zanjatój), занятый (ru) (zánjatyj), деятельный (ru) (déjatel’nyj) (active)
• Scottish Gaelic: trang (gd)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: прометан (sh), наметљив (sh)

  Roman: prometan (sh), nametljiv (sh)

• Slovak: činný (sk)
• Slovene: zaposlen (sl)
• Spanish: ocupado (es)
• Swahili: bizi (sw)
• Swedish: jäktig (sv), flitig (sv)
• Tagalog: okupado (tl)
• Thai: ยุ่งวุ่นวาย (th) (yôong wôon waai)
• Turkish: meşgul (tr)
• Ukrainian: зайнятий (uk) (zájnjatyj)
• Urdu: مصروف (ur) (masrūf), مشغول (ur) (maśġūl)
• Uyghur: ayighi (ug) (ayighi)
• Vietnamese: bận rộn (vi)
• Welsh: prysur (cy)
• West Frisian: beset (fy)
• Yiddish: farnumen (yi)

engaged

• Bulgarian: зает (bg) (zaet)
• Dutch: bezig (nl)
• Finnish: varattu (fi)
• French: occupé (fr)
• Georgian: დაკავებული (ka) (dakavebuli)
• German: besetzt (de), beschäftigt (de)
• Guernésiais: embarrassaï
• Italian: occupato (it) m

• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: occupatus (la) m
• Norwegian: opptatt (no), travel (no)
• Pashto: بوخت (ps) (buxt), اخته (ps) (axta)
• Polish: zajęty (pl)
• Russian: занятый (ru) (zánjatyj)
• Swedish: upptagen (sv)

complicated

• Czech: rušný (cs)
• Dutch: druk (nl)

• Finnish: levoton (fi), sekava (fi)
• Polish: skomplikowany (pl)

Verb

busy (third-person singular simple present busies, present participle busying, simple past and past participle busied)

1. To make somebody busy, to keep busy with, to occupy, to make occupied.
   • On my vacation I'll busy myself with gardening.
2. To rush somebody.

Translations

to keep busy with

• Bulgarian: занимавам (bg) (zanimavam)
• Czech: zaměstnávat (cs)

• Finnish: puuhailla (fi), askaroida (fi), työllistää (fi)

to rush somebody

• Finnish: hoputtaa (fi)

Anagrams

• buys