abuzz
/əˈbʌz/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.30 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "The court was all astir and a-buzz, when the black sheep—whom many fell away from in dread—pressed him into an obscure corner among the crowd."
- "There's too many women in the house for me: I hate the sound of women's voices; they're always either a-buzz or a-squeak, always either a-buzz or a-squeak."
- "The long silent halls of sumptuous hotels are all abuzz with excited arrivals."
- "Now what a-devil has set this hornet's nest of theirs abuzz so suddenly?"
- "The town was abuzz with excitement for an hour, when the news became stale."
- "It was coming up on the cusp of July and August, and he remembered boyhood summers on the mountain's slopes abuzz with blackflies and syrupy heat."
Etymology
From a- (prefix indicating a condition or manner) + buzz (“feeling or rush of energy or excitement; major topic of conversation; widespread rumor; information spread behind the scenes”) or buzz (“to show a high level of activity and haste; to communicate in an undertone; to spread, as a report, by whispers or secretly; to talk to incessantly or confidentially in a low humming voice”).
Word Breakdown
- Prefix: a
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈbʌz/
- British English: /əˈbʌz/