busy
/ˈbɪz.i/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.75 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on.
adj
Engaged with or preoccupied by an activity or person.
adj
Example Sentences
- "Be careful crossing that busy street."
- "To-morrow is a busy day."
- "Although they had but that moment left the school behind them, they were now in the busy thoroughfares of a city, where shadowy passengers passed and repassed; where shadowy carts and coaches battled for the way, and all the strife and tumult of a real city were.[…]They left the busy scene, and went into an obscure part of the town, where Scrooge had never penetrated before, although he recognised its situation, and its bad repute."
- "With hours to go before their labor contract expired, longshoremen on the East and Gulf Coasts prepared on Monday to go on strike at midnight, halting most activity at some of the busiest U.S. ports."
- "The director cannot see you now: he's busy."
- "Her telephone has been busy all day."
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: bisy, bisiġ, *bisīg, bisien, bisgian, *bisīgōn
Usage
- British usage
- Derogatory
- Slang
- Transitive verb